Remember the time when Rajshri came out with Hum Aapke Hain Koun and every dada-dadi and chacha-chachi was in queue wanting to watch the family drama?

Toh Baat Feeki

Toh Baat Pakki
u; drama
Dir: Kedar Shinde
Cast: Tabu, Ayub Khan, Sharman Joshi, Vatsal Sheth, Uvika Chaudhary
h1/2

What's it about: Remember the time when Rajshri came out with Hum Aapke Hain Koun and every dada-dadi and chacha-chachi was in queue wanting to watch the family drama? Comparing Toh Baat Pakki to HAHK may well be preposterous, but there's no doubt that director Kedar Shinde has watched ample saas-bahu soaps and ghar-ghar ki kahanis to get fodder for his shoddy debut. Everything about the film is old school -- so much that it's even set in Ooty. Rajeshwari (Tabu) is the modern-age Basanti sans the chirpiness and charm. Apart from running her motormouth, she only dreams of getting her sister Nisha (Uvika Chowdhary) married off to a well-settled guy. Rahul Saxena (Sharman) is a local engineering student (3 Idiots hangover?) who's asked to move into Rajeshwari's house as a paying guest. After she thinks he's the perfect groom for Nisha, there's a new entry -- Yuvraaj (Vatsal Sheth) who's better off than Rahul. Things become awkward and the plot tumbles downhill as the two prospective grooms vie for the same bride.

What's hot: The only ray of light here is the peppy Jis Din Mera Byaah track by Pritam. Its foot-tapping and puts some life in an otherwise dull plot.

What's not: The problem with TBP is that it tries too hard to fit in the family drama bracket. The director seems to have a checklist. Happy family? Check. Corny one-liners? Check. Loud supporting aunty? Check. Wedding songs? Check. Kahani mein twist? Check. A good script? Beeeep! Only if there was an attempt to weave an interesting story and go beyond uni-dimensional characters, the material could be salvaged. In an attempt to make the plot likeable, we are forced to watch one ridiculous scene after another. Rahul and Nisha's falling in love while explaining to a toddler what a solar eclipse means takes the cake for the most brainless premise ever! Watching Sharman, Uvika and Tabu revolve, rotate and levitate in weird circles will want you to decapitate whoever wrote this scene. The comic scenes and dialogues are so uninspired that even a daily soap wouldn't use them. Sharman looks unsettled in his tight T-shirts and 'rocking' haircut once again playing a college kid (grow up, will you?). Whatever's happened to Tabu? Sorry we complained about her being a recluse, maybe she needs to go back to doing that. Ayub Khan is reduced to reacting (rather than acting) in most frames, while the rest of the cast -- Upasana Singh, Suhasini Mulay, Himani Shivpuri and others -- don't make much of a difference.

What to do: A huge disappointment for Tabu fans, the film tries hard to emulate the Rajshri success formula, but ends up falling flat with its weak script.

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