This fun ride doesn’t reach its full potential

Story: A young couple from Indore decides to get divorced to be eligible to buy a home under a government scheme. But things don’t go as planned, and they have a fallout. Will the much-in-love couple reconcile or go their separate ways?

Review: A romantic comedy of errors set in a small town with oddball characters and an outrageous plot makes for a fun premise. Director Laxman Utekar’s directorial venture delivers on this account for the most part. It promises to be a laugh riot as soon as the viewer is introduced to Kapil Dubey (Vicky Kaushal), his wife Saumya Chawla Dubey (Sara Ali Khan), and their joint family. All hell breaks loose when the pandit’s family accidentally eats a cake that contains eggs. As Kapil’s mami (Kanupriya Pandit) takes a jab at the Punjabi daughter-in-law for the fiasco, the latter puts her foot down that she wants to move out and away from the constant taunts. And thus begins the duo’s quest to buy a house, which proves to be a proposition they cannot afford.

Things take a bizarre turn when Saumya discovers a government scheme to acquire a flat. But here’s the catch—since Kapil’s family owns a house, he’s ineligible. A dubious agent, Bhagwan Das (Inaamulhaq), tells them Saumya will be eligible under the women’s quota if she divorces Kapil, and the two can remarry once the home is allotted. After that, the viewer is treated to a comedy of errors as the couple pretends to fight to persuade the family and the judge that they must get divorced. A love triangle and a nosy security guard, Daroga (Sharib Hashmi), are thrown in to make the ride crazier.

The film’s basic storyline feels far-fetched, as Kapil and Saumya decide to take a drastic step, such as separating (even if only on paper) to acquire a house when they are not in dire need. The movie’s first half is especially rib-tickling, but the entertainment quotient dips post-interval because of unconvincing and over-the-top tracks, like when the duo pretends to be brother and sister or a government official shows up at Saumya’s rented apartment for verification, and Kapil is around too. There’s also a track where Deepa mami suffers from liver cirrhosis, which only adds drama but does not quite take the story forward.

Vicky Kaushal performs ably and gets the small-town penny-pinching guy act well. He emotes perfectly in a scene at the hospital when Kapil and Saumya have a heart-to-heart talk to iron out their differences. Sara Ali Khan performs sincerely as a middle-class bahu and a spitfire Punjabi girl. The supporting cast, including Neeraj Sood and Kanupirya Pandit as mama and mami, Inaamulhaq, Rakesh Bedi as Saumya’s father, Harcharan Chawla, and Akash Khurana as Kapil’s father deliver good performances. Sachin-Jigar’s songs are catchy, and Raghav Ramadoss’s cinematography captures Indore’s small-town vibe and quirks well.

Overall, Zara Hatke Zara Bachke is an enjoyable one-time-watch for the funny punchlines, far-out characters and performances. But the unconvincing story and the temperate screenplay prevent it from reaching its full potential.