“Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya: Shahid Kapoor and Kriti Sanon Present a Blend of Sci-Fi Elements and Emotional Indian Family Drama in a Confusing Film”
Shahid Kapoor makes a good lover. His act may be practised and rehearsed but when it comes to doing the pyaar-vyaar thing, you still go ahhh. And that goes even when he is with the latest object of his adoration, Kriti Sanon’s Sifra, a super-intelligent robot who looks and feels human.
But, and this is the thing, this holds true only some of the times, because large tracts of ‘Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya’, a long-winded title of a film which feels even longer, is just such a confused mish-mash of genres, filled with tropey characters: sci-fi meets mushy romance meets loving Indian parivaar. Kya yaar.
Cool cat Aryan (Shahid Kapoor) and best pal Monty (Ashish Verma) float around a plush office talking robotics until it’s time for the former to meet-cute Sifra, somewhere in the USA, under the benign eye of his super-creator maasi (Dimple Kapadia). This is the kind of film which feels comfortable labelling a generic scene ‘USA’, just in case we find names of specific cities too weighty.
So here we are, in Amrika, with a shaadi-phobic male and a stunning female robot in close confines. So of course there’s song and sizzle, with sheets getting nicely rumpled. Aryan aka Aaru knows the truth, and yet finds himself hopelessly smitten, as Sifra goes about being a potential dutiful Indian wife, saying ‘theek hai’ to everything he says.
Ooh, you think, could we be in for a grown-up relationship movie, with existential questions about men and machines, the ethics involved in creating robots with human feelings, and the whole question of control. Haha, gotcha, the filmmakers retort, as they plonk us back in ‘Hum Aapke Hain Koun’ territory with a collective gathering of mummyji, daddyji, dadaji (Dharmendra), bua, phoofa, and the statutory scenes filled with with sagaai, sangeet, and Manyavar suitings. Sigh.
For a film which wants to be a family entertainer, there are risible sequences featuring men peering down low-cut blouses-and-bosoms, and tasteless wife jokes. Monty the Hero’s Best Friend does exactly what BFFs have done for decades, make the hero look good: when will this oldest, creakiest device be dumped?
“Shahid Kapoor shines with some of the wittiest dialogues in the film, particularly when he sheds the burden of his hero image and simply becomes a relatable character in front of the leading lady. Reminiscent of his charm in ‘Jab We Met’, Kapoor’s presence captivates. However, the film’s direction takes a confusing turn, oscillating between genres—is it a comedic take on robots, a horror involving robots, or a mix of various themes that fail to find cohesion?”
Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya movie cast: Shahid Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, Dharmendra, Dimple Kapadia, Ashish Verma, Anubha Fatehpuria, Rakesh Bedi, Grusha Kapoor
Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya movie directors: Amit Joshi, Aradhna Seth
Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya movie rating: 2 stars
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