‘Do Aur Do Pyaar’ (2024) Movie Review - Filled With Superb Performances

Kavya (Vidya Balan) and Vikram (Sendhil Ramamurthy) look at a house and plan their future (she talks about painting the walls with blue colors and hanging black and white photos on them). Ani (Pratik Gandhi) helps Nora (Ileana D'Cruz) rehearse her lines; on their anniversary, he gives her a gift like a gentleman. All four characters are so natural and so comfortable with each other that they look like a married couple. Director Shirsha Guha Thakurta, though, gently introduces a twist. We learn that Ani is not married to Nora, and Kavya is not married to Vikram. It's Ani and Kavya who turn out to be the real married couple. How wonderful, how shocking this reveal could have been if it had not been spoiled in the trailers. After 13 or 15 years of marriage, there is no spark left between Ani and Kavya. They sit far from one another on the sofa and have ordinary conversations (they talk about mundane things like garbage bags and vegan food). When the couple goes to Ooty to attend a funeral, their relationship gets reanimated. Again, how awesome this change of events could have felt if it had not been spoiled in the trailers.

By using these twists as Do Aur Do Pyaar's conceit as well as a selling point, Thakurta weakens their strength. The predictability issue is still overcome by the superb performances, but writers Suprotim Sengupta, Amrita Bagchi, and Eisha Chopra fail to add substance to this contrived situation. How did Kavya, a dentist, meet Vikram, a photographer? Similarly, how did Ani, a cork businessman, meet Nora, an actress? These relationships are just artificially created for dramatic purposes. What prevents them from feeling utterly unbelievable is the conviction with which the actors surrender themselves to such conditions, to this material. Vikram and Nora could have easily come across as one-dimensional dumbheads, but they are treated as vulnerable humans. As a result, you really feel the sharp edges of this love rectangle (or square). Infidelity is no laughing (or sexy) matter.

Yet, Thakurta sustains a fantastic comic mood with this material. The scenes are never allowed to become too heavy or too melodramatic. During a father-daughter confrontation, humor flows through an obituary writer who wonders if he should stay or leave the premises. When a sour Kavya drives a scooter with Ani sitting in the back, the tension is released through talk of cork business. At night, while looking at the sleeping characters, the camera momentarily turns its gaze toward a dead grandfather. Thakurta basically adds fun to the funeral. No wonder Ani and Kavya are caught making out in a room where the corpse is kept.

Some of the lines are loaded with double entendres. "Cork" is interpreted as...yes, that male human organ. "Orgasm" is replaced with "jackpot" and "sex" with "Chicken 65." The humor, like the drama, is quite understated. Thakurta doesn't grab you by your collars to force you to elicit a reaction. She lets the scenes unfold in a very natural manner. So when Kavya's parents find Ani in his towel standing outside his apartment, the moment neither erupts nor develops towards a hilarious climax. In one of the scenes in the film, Nora stops her car in the middle of the road. Later, Kavya's father stops the car in the middle of the road. What this means is that Do Aur Do Pyaar also consists of echo moments. We initially see Ani and Kavya separated by a wall. We, at one point, see Kavya and Vikram separated by a line when the former comes to the latter's darkroom. When Nora goes to Kavya for a "checkup," we notice a line between the two women (thanks to a medical instrument).

Not all double entendres are meant to be comical. When Ani tells Vikram he is standing in his spot (he refers to the parking space), we instantly understand what the movie is trying to convey to us (Vikram has occupied Ani's position by being in a relationship with Kavya). Pulli (Kumaradas T. N.), a driver, reminisces about Ani and Kavya's romance and is constantly told to look forward. "Look forward," in this case, is not merely meant to be taken as an instruction. It also means that Pulli should forget that version of Ani and Kavya and move on. If only Do Aur Do Pyaar had taken this advice instead of coming to such a safe conclusion. The fate of the characters is unremarkably sealed in the opening scene when Kavya and Vikram draw a connection between toothpaste tubes and humans.

Nonetheless, Do Aur Do Pyaar establishes Thakurta as a talented director. Consider the scene where Ani and Kavya dance at a hotel together. The movie observes them affectionately, which is why Balan and Gandhi win you over and put a smile on your faces. Thakurta is a warm, gentle filmmaker - she loves actors.

Final Score- [7/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times