As a love story of a somewhat different timbre, Pradeep Sarkar’s third directorial vehicle is youthful, nimble and sure-footed, a far cry from his previous outing, the rather stodgy Laaga Chunari Mein Daag. Unlike Parineeta and Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, Sarkar narrates a simple story this time around. But for director Pradeep Sarkar, Lafangey Parindey is a sort of a reply to critics who ripped apart his last film, Laaga Chunari Main Daag. Here, he shows that he can shift genres while keeping a firm hold on the medium. He does not get preachy or patronizing in his storytelling in spite of his story being predictable. Second half is a bit of a drag but even then the film never loses its grip. Yet, to be fair to Sarkar, he ventures in an unknown territory like a seasoned player. He tries to tell a story that’s not his forte. The result? A movie that works only in fits and starts, but mostly leaves you in a fit of yawns. Pradeep Sarkar’s LP has a warm, glowing heart and is somewhat good when flirting and laughing. But it is short on talent and finesse and doesn’t fully involve us in the action and dancing that it is so keen on. Sarkar actually fails to take it to a higher level.
On the whole Sarkar's departure from kerchief capers is a sleekly-packaged potboiler with abundant implausibility that wowed us in the 1980s but commands very little respect today. But he surely deserves credit for extracting great performances from the cast. And thankfully, Neil smooching Deepika distracts us and makes us happy in the end.
Rating:
2 / 5