Movie Review: Pati Patni Aur Woh

Producers- Bhushan Kumar and Renu Ravi Chopra

Director- Mudassar Aziz

Star Cast- Kartik Aryan, Bhumi Pednekar, Ananya Panday, Apaarshakti Khurrana, Sunny Singh, Shubam Kumar

Genre- Social

Rating- *** (Three)

Designed to drive your blues away

Jyothi Venkatesh

It is not a theme which can shock Bollywood like it did first when the original version by B. R. Chopra was released, when none of the principal actors of this film was even born. We have frequently seen the funny side of the troubles that a two-timing husband invites upon himself and his legally wedded partner. From Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Rang Birangi (1983) to David Dhawan's Biwi No. 1 (1999), all inspired by Billy Wilder's The Seven-Year Itch, where Marilyn Monroe was cast as a femme fatale, married men have got away with infidelity on the big screen. Women have a much harder time tiding over lesser lapses, because if a man trespasses, he is hailed as a stud or dude but when a female trespasses, she is shunted out as a slut, without a character of her own.

The film revolves around Chintu Tyagi (Kartik Aryan) who works as a Public Works Department (PWD) engineer in Kanpur, and Vedika (Bhumi Pednekar) who teaches mathematics in a co-education school and is compared to none other Kareena Kapoor. The two who are married for only three years when monotony and boredom begin to tear them apart and Chintu who is on the lookout for some pleasure bumps in to a petite young 20 something called Tapasya Singh (Ananya Panday) and is drawn towards her unwittingly.

Chintu who is totally smitten by Tapasya who comes to Lucknow to buy a plot to expand her boutique in Delhi does everything but to get physical with the girl, because he hails from a middle class family with morals. Ditto is the case with Vedika, who tells Chintu that sex, is her hobby when he asks her what her hobbies are when he visits her for the first time as part of the arranged marriage. Kartik Aryan steals the show in his role while Bhumi Pedenkar has become a seasoned actress having essayed various roles with various shades trill date. Apaarshakti Khurrana is too good a side kick as Chintu’s sincere friend. Shubam Kumar as the student smitten over his teacher Vedika has a good screen presence

The original version saw the light of the day exactly 40 years ago. It goes to the credit of the new team and the director that they have modernized the theme to suit the palates of the audiences today in a different milieu and template. The best thing about the film is that it is a family comedy which eschews vulgarity even though it tackles an adult subject of a husband straying away from his marriage. The wife also has a former boy friend while the ‘woh’ who is attracted to the pati is also shown to have a former lover, who has jilted her for the sake of another young thing.

To sum up, though Pati Patni Aur Woh is a hilarious film which can be watched with the entire family to drive away the blues, if you ask me which version would I prefer, I’d any day opt for the original version which was released way back in 1979 with Sanjeev Kumar, Vidya Sinha and Ranjeeta which was a treat to watch. Thank God the producers have made Kartik recite not only a three page monologue like in his earlier films but also made him mouth the lines Tande Tande Paani Mein Nahana Chahiye

For more Bollywood updates, follow Bollyy!

Tags: Bollywood, Bollywood News, Bollywood Updates, Television, Telly News,  Pati Patni Aur Woh, Kartik Aryan, Bhumi Pednekar, Ananya Khare, Apaarshakti Khurrana, Sunny Singh, Shubam Kumar