'Dil Juunglee' Review: Taapsee Pannu and Saqib Saleem shine in this 'old wine in a new bottle'

Film: Dil Juunglee (Comedy Romance) 

Critic’s Rating: 2.5 / 5 

Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Saqib Saleem, Abhilash Thapiyal, Shrishti Shrivastava, Ayesha Kaduskar, Nidhi Singh, Sanosh Barmola 

Director: Aleya Sen 

Duration: 2 hours 4 minutes 

Language: Hindi (U/A) 

Story:

Koroli Nair aka Koro (Taapsee) is the daughter of a London-based industrialist, with a phobia of remaining single. She is happy being an English counsellor while waiting for someone to fall in love with and get married. Sumit Utpal (Saqib) is a gym trainer in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar and aspires to become a Bollywood actor. His need to learn to speak fluent English takes him to her class, setting their love story into motion. Soon enough, they decide to get married. But their ‘happily ever after’ moment doesn’t come too soon.

Review:

This romance comedy begins on a promising note, with Koro checking her packing list, right down to brinjal-filled sandwiches, as she is set to elope with her beau, Sumit. A quick flashback takes us to the beginning of their love story, but not without giving us a good dekko of her singledom-phobia. So much so that Koro is trying hard to convince her previous boyfriend to not break-up with her while she’s taking her driving lessons.

Putting the end of relationship behind her, she goes with her girl friend’s suggestion of letting her hair down with wild abandon. However, director Aleya Sen, who also doubles as the writer, walks the tame path of clichés. And consequently, that limits Tonoya Sen Sharma and Shiv Singh’s screenplay.

Taapsee Pannu proves yet again that she has the ability to rise above the script. Whether as the plain Jane bespectacled English counsellor or as the savvy businesswoman in London, she brings life to Koroli with her sincere performance. Saqib, too, plays his part well, adding the nuances of Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar residents, with conviction. Nidhi seems to enjoy essaying the loud and unintentionally entertaining Ayesha. Supriyya Shukla as Sumit’s mother is quite endearing. Santosh Barmola as Koro’s fiancé Jai lends due support.

The soundtrack doesn’t do much for the movie, though Dil Jaane Na is easy on the ears and Tanishk Bagchi’s recreated version of Ghazab Ka Hai Din (Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak) is passable. Amol Rathod does a competent job of making the film look good and vibrant.

Verdict:

It’s old wine in a new bottle, but watch it for Taapsee and Saqib’s refreshing chemistry. 

--- Review by Hiren Kotwani