Tere Mere Phere Review {2/5} & Review Rating
Shaadi ka laddoo -- jo khaye, woh pachtaaye. Jo na khaaye, woh bhi pachtaaye. Well, that's an age-old adage that crops up every time people discuss marriage. Deepa Sahi's TERE MERE PHERE is a comical take on the contemporary idea of love and marriage. The film looks at two couples -- one married, another unmarried -- and how lots of confusion ensues in their lives, before they 'live happily thereafter'.
Deepa has a humorous way of looking at some of the most serious situations in life and that's what makes this comedy unique. Imagine doing a film for the first time, a comedy film, and a road film that too! She ought to be praised for the effort. Though Deepa has made a sincere effort to tell a story that has its share of fun moments, a number of sequences in the movie seem so far-fetched that they are too difficult to absorb at times and that, frankly, is a downer. The constant war of words between the newly-married couple looks like a farce in an otherwise real-life scenario. Also, the arguments and constant bickering get on your nerves after a point and monotony sets in.
TERE MERE PHERE is a comic look at the battle of the sexes. A made for each other couple, Pooja [Sasha Goradia] and Rahul [Jagrat Desai], who have a perfect love affair and a perfect marriage, set out on a perfect dream honeymoon in a motor home, driving through the breath-taking Himalayas. But then can life ever be perfect. If 'distance makes the heart grow fonder', then the too much proximity should have the reverse effect. And it does.
As Pooja and Rahul get too close for comfort, a series of absurd fights follow and soon they get embroiled with a local Himachali small-town guy [Vinay Pathak] and his girl Muskaan [Riya Sen]. How the couples' lives get entwined forms the remainder of the film.
First-time director Deepa Sahi has a flair for comic entertainers and that comes to the fore in several sequences. While the film is engrossing in most parts, the screenplay dips in the second hour when Vinay, suddenly, decides against marrying Riya. Sure, he's completely put off by Jagrat and Sasha's constant fights/bickering, but somehow it doesn't come across convincingly on screen.
I'd like to make a special mention of the cinematography. The locales of Himachal Pradesh are absolutely breath-taking and the DoP captures those scenic locales with dexterity on celluloid. The songs are just about okay.
Vinay Pathak is an absolute natural. He proves he's a scene-stealer yet again. Jagrat is wonderful, not showing signs that this is his debut film. Sasha compliments Jagrat at places, but needs to be natural at times. Riya Sen looks too glamorous for the part. Even her western diction makes her unfit for this role. Sushmita Mukherjee does well. Darshan Jariwala gets no scope. Jagrat's kid-brother is funny.
On the whole, TERE MERE PHERE manages to raise a few laughs, but that's not enough. One expected more!
