Bhool Chuk Maaf Review: Even the Audience Keeps Repeating This Phrase…

Film 'Bhool Chuk Maaf' Review by Shantiswaroop Tripathi...

• Rating: 1 stars
• Producer: Dinesh Vijan
• Writer: Karan Sharma
• Director: Karan Sharma
• Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Wamiqa Gabbi, Seema Pahwa, Sanjay Mishra, Zakir Hussain, Raghubir Yadav, Ishtiyak Khan, Vineet Kumar, Nalneesh Neel, etc.
• Duration: 2 hours 1 minute

Whether it’s a love marriage or an arranged one, to move life forward after marriage, one needs a job. But nowadays in India, the saying goes: "You might find a girl, but not a job!" Touching upon this very issue of employment—specifically, government jobs—producer Dinesh Vijan and director Karan Sharma have attempted to deliver a “science-comedy-fiction” film titled “Bhool Chuk Maaf ”, which turns out to be nothing more than a confused mishmash.

If only the writer and director had a better understanding of the country, today’s youth, and the seriousness of unemployment, they could have created a classic film. But for them, the audience is foolish—serve them anything and expect them to spend their hard-earned money on this mindless mess. The film is produced jointly by Dinesh Vijan and Amazon Prime Video. On top of that, ‘Film Bandhu’ also provided subsidy money—so what does Dinesh Vijan have to lose? He’s in profit either way. It’s the audience no one cares about.

Story 

The story begins in Varanasi with a love story between Ranjan Tiwari and Titli Mishra, who are trying to elope. But suddenly Titli changes her mind and refuses to run away. The matter reaches the police station. Inspector Pandey summons both families. Ranjan’s father, Raghunath (Raghubir Yadav), and mother Ramawati (Seema Pahwa), and Titli’s parents (Zakir Hussain and his wife) all arrive. It is decided that if Ranjan secures a government job within two months, he can marry Titli.

Getting a government job isn’t easy. Ranjan even visits a Shiva temple and vows to do a noble deed if his wish is fulfilled. On the advice of his uncle and friends, he meets Bhagwan Das (Sanjay Mishra), who promises him a job in the irrigation department in exchange for ₹2 lakhs in advance and ₹6 lakhs later. Titli helps arrange the money. The wedding is scheduled for the 30th—though no specific month is given. Preparations begin in both households.

After the haldi ceremony on the 29th, Ranjan wakes up the next day only to be called for haldi again. Confused, he realizes he’s stuck in a time loop where every day resets to the 29th, and the 30th never arrives. Even after fulfilling his incomplete vow, he cannot escape the time loop. Depressed, Ranjan contemplates suicide—until it's revealed that he bribed Bhagwan Das to cancel someone named Hamid Ansari’s name to secure the job. This triggers a dramatic confrontation. Bhagwan Das arrives and delivers a moral lecture on jobs and humanity. Eventually, Ranjan and Titli get married.

Review

Watching “Bhool Chuk Maaf ”—a film made with government subsidy under the pretense of secularism—never once gives the impression that the filmmaker or writer-director knows anything about Varanasi’s culture or lifestyle. The story and screenplay are extremely weak. Yes, the comedy is clean, but it lacks wit. The concept of a time loop is new, but there’s no meaningful explanation or justification for it. The climax is predictable.

In the film, Rajkummar Rao repeatedly uses the word “bakyatī.” But writer-director Karan Sharma seems unaware that “bakyatī” has a connotation related to arrogance or swagger. For random rambling, the correct word is “bakwaas.” To know this, you need to step out of your posh Mumbai apartment and actually spend a few days in Varanasi.

Varanasi is known for its culture, refinement, and pure Hindi. It’s often said that people there could steal the kajal from your eyes without you knowing. And yet, the film portrays a girl like Titli as someone so foolish she pawns her mother’s jewelry to help her boyfriend. Wow! What a sense of dignity. Titli casually uses words like “saala” and “saali,” which are considered vulgar in most of Uttar Pradesh.

Director Sharma’s brilliance shines when Ranjan talks about feeding a cow not roti, but “puran poli”—a Maharashtrian dish! And the film shows that government jobs in Varanasi can be bought with lakhs in bribes. Given that Film Bandhu (under the UP Government) subsidized this, does that mean the UP government endorsed this portrayal?

If the filmmaker had any insight, they could’ve made a deeply resonant movie reflecting the pain of unemployed youth and the broken government job system. But instead, they delivered this mockery. There’s no chemistry between Rajkummar Rao and Wamiqa Gabbi. Their romance is poorly portrayed, and their performances seem mismatched. The editor deserves credit for somehow stitching together this chaotic mess of characters, subplots, and themes into 2 hours and 1 minute.

Since the filmmaker took money from the government, they felt obligated to showcase every stereotype about Varanasi. Yet, the families of the protagonists lack any real Brahmin cultural background. How bizarre is it that Tiwari Ji cooks kheer with a clove garnish every Sunday on the terrace with his entire family? Now all Brahmins in Varanasi should definitely do this!

The film appears to have been shot on sets in Mumbai, with Varanasi merely shown through drone shots. The music is utterly forgettable.

Performances

Rajkummar Rao is completely “unfit” for the role of Ranjan Tiwari. Just visiting Patna to eat at a chaat stall and promoting videos of it doesn't make you a good actor. India is a land where dialects change every few miles. Had Rajkummar spent even two days in Varanasi among locals, he would have understood their lifestyle and speech better. But he didn’t—so his performance feels entirely fake. He adds nothing new to the role and seems to be sabotaging his own career.

Wamiqa Gabbi is a talented actress, but she fails in the role of Titli. Like Rajkummar, her speech lacks any authentic Varanasi flavor. While the blame can partly lie with the writer and director, it’s still her responsibility as an actor to do proper homework. She merely looks pretty on screen.

Seema Pahwa leaves an impression as Ranjan’s mother. Raghubir Yadav as Raghupati Tiwari ends up repeating himself, offering nothing fresh.

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