Expectations –
Two years back Anushka Sharma made her debut as a producer with a small film ‘NH 10’. The movie managed to get good reviews and also fared decently over the box office. Anushka’s performance was widely appreciated and the audience was waiting for her next production venture. She returns back with a comical love story ‘Phillauri’ and plays a friendly ghost in the film. The trailer managed to grab the attention as it also stars Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh. The expectations are high and one does expect to see some powerful performance in this fantasy based film.
Story –
‘Phillauri’ is a story about a young rapper Kanan (Suraj Sharma) who is about to get married to his childhood sweetheart Anu (Mehreen Pirzada). A few days before the marriage Anu’s family discovers that Kanan is a Manglik and in order to get rid of it, they have to get him married to a tree. After initial resistance Kanan finally agrees and completes the rituals. That night Kanan gets a visitor in the form of a friendly ghost Shashi (Anushka Sharma). As per Shashi, she was living in that tree for decades and now that Kanan is married to the tree, that means he is married to her. This leads to a terrible confusion along with the journey to the past life of Shashi and her beloved Phillauri (Diljit Dosanjh).
The ‘Glitz’ Factor –
The movie begins on a fun note displaying the track of Suraj Sharma and Anushka Sharma. These scenes are highly entertaining and sets the right mood for the film. The initial shift between different time frames is interesting and intriguing. The first half is light, entertaining and enjoyable. Though, there are some savior scenes like Anushka inspiring Diljit and Anushka waiting for Diljit in this super stretched second half. The movie would have been a disaster due to its weak second half, but ends up getting saved by an unusual climax. The thought and idea behind the climax is unique and something different. The cinematography is good and goes well with the flow of the film. The special effects are of top notch and it’s very hard to find any glitch in all those scenes. Music is a key requirement for this movie. Sadly, except for ‘Sahiba’ and ‘Dum Dum’, none of the songs manage to do proper justice to the film. ‘Sahiba’ is one of the best songs to be composed in recent times and has the whole soul of ‘Phillauri’ but gets diluted due to bad placement in the film. The background music is good. Director Anshai Lai comes up with a brilliant one liner idea with a fantastic start and end to his tale. Anushka Sharma looks highly beautiful as the friendly ghost. Diljit Dosanjh looks great and does full justice to his role. Suraj Sharma is the best of the lot due to his confused character and works in the favour of the film. Mehreen Pirzada lends good support.
The ‘Non-Glitz’ Factor –
The curse of second half strikes back as the narrative gets super slow, bland and boring at times. The initial romance track between Anushka and Diljit is interesting and so is the later part of their love story. It’s the middle part which drags to the fullest and looses it’s connect with Suraj and Mehreen’s track. Even this unique climax scene gets diluted as it’s stretched to the fullest. If only the writing in the second half would have been strong and the connect factor would have been high, the impact in the finale would have been like a masterstroke. Sadly, due to lengthy and bland second half, after a point you might not even care about Diljit and Anushka’s love story. The romantic track of Anushka fails to connect and also lacks the intensity. The movie should have been bit crispier and with some more detailing in the second half. Anushka Sharma role should have been meatier.
Final ‘Glitz’ –
‘Phillauri’ has its moments of fun and emotions, but ends up being a not so friendly tale due to its weak second half and stretched length of the film.
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