Raabta Review: Where was the love?

Movie: Raabta

Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput. Kriti Sanon, Jim Sarbh

Director: Dinesh Vijan

Production House: T-Series/Maddock Films

Dinesh Vijan’s Raabta is the story of Shiv and Saira (Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon) who do not exactly understand the reason behind their closeness which is growing at (inhumanly) rapid speed. Saira keeps questioning this infatuation until she confronts the billionaire liquor baron Zack Merchant (Jim Sarbh) who claims that he and Saira were madly in love in a past life until a warrior wooed Saira and took her away. No points for guessing who that warrior was.

The first half, set in the picturesque locals of Budapest, was engaging thanks to the Sushant and Kriti’s adorable chemistry, their on-point one-liners and cutesy moments. Although the pace at which their love escalated was so unnatural that it made us say “Whoa, that escalated quickly!” we stayed patient as we were hoping that it would all make sense when we get to know what really happened in the second narrative. Towards the end of the first half, we see the two leads set out on a quest to test each other’s loyalty, Saira bumps into Zack (Sarbh), with whom she feels the same way as she does with Shiv, and their growing friendship leads to a twist which concludes the first half.

In the second half, Saira (in the most nonsensical way possible) learns about her past life, which we felt was written by the writers of Game Of Thrones and Sanjay Leela Bhansali together after an intense drinking session. She then understands that she is the only one who can stop the past from repeating itself. At the end, all characters meet for a final showdown, which was an exact replica of how the past-life story ended with a very predictable change to it just so that the story would end on a happy note.

Sushant brings to life the character of the fun-loving, charming lady-killer Shiv to life and his complete disbelief in the concept of past life works really well for him, and he does a decent job in the past life as well. The main highlight of his character from the past were his killer warrior-type instincts which he displayed beautifully in the action sequences. Although we had a bit of a problem with the kind of voice he was given in this part of the story, which we felt was a pointless addition.

We have to admit that Kriti Sanon has honed her acting skills as she shines brightly across both the stories, no matter how mundane or clichéd they were. Both of her characters were strong minded and vulnerable which were seasoned with the right amount of eccentricity. This performance, we believe, will go down as one of the best ones in her career. Power to you, girl!

Jim Sarbh, GOD knows why had been given the character of an overly eccentric and a mildly charming business tycoon with awkward dialogue delivery and severe psychiatric issues. If the writers thought that combining all these elements would make Sarbh look like an evil genius, they are in need of psychiatric help themselves. It was a relief to see him play a saner character in the other story, who sadly had a melodramatic end as well. Such a waste of talent.

Overall, the movie was a let-down as it turned out to be a shallow reincarnation drama and the only kind of love we saw was forced and superficial. As I walked out of the theater, I was asking myself, was this movie about to be forced love or the force of love? Where was that intense passion of a love story which had been brewing for nearly a millennium? We don’t believe that the movie will fare well in terms of Box office number, but the producers have themselves covered, since the producers of the movie, who made the movie in about 33 crores, has sold its music rights for 31, plus the rebate they have availed from the government of Budapest since the film is majorly shot there.

As for you guys, this movie is only watchable if you are a die-hard Sushant or Kriti fan. Don’t bother if you’re looking for a film with a meaningful story.

Our verdict: 2.5/5 Stars