Film review: Amit Sahni Ki List

Stars: 1.5

Shall I tell you what a deal-breaker in a perfectly acceptable relationship drama can be? It is, yes, the dreaded voice-over. In which a character is shown doing something, and that self-same character doubles up by explaining to us, superfluously and annoyingly, what he is doing. It is what films should dump if they want to wade into men-and-women territory with some wit and delicacy.

Can we not see? If I need telling, I’ll listen to the radio, no?

So here’s finance whiz Amit Sahni ( Das) telling us what he likes in his ideal girl. She should like, no, worship, Sachin Tendulkar. There are other points to be ticked, but we’ll jump forward and tell you that Amit finds himself being drawn towards the unlikely Mala ( Tamotia), a tomboy with a yen for adventure sports and a pug. When dog-hating dudes start holding out their hands for a leash, we know their days as merry bachelors are over.

But before holy matrimony can strike, an apparition which ticks everything on the list hoves into Amit’s view. Devika ( Nayar) can make an excel spreadsheet sexy and fill out a sheath nicely : what more can a fellow looking for his Miss Right want? Even his bro ( Shastri), with whom he spends too much time talking about his ‘feelings’, can’t spot a fly.

One man who can’t make up his mind between two women is classic brom-com, and there are some moments in here that come close to the real thing. But the story never really shakes off its tropes, and burst forth into its own. Das is an amiable actor, and is a good fit for the urban confused singleton, Tomatia’s ‘desi’ appeal as well as Nayar’s svelte swishness is used well, but overall, the film is drab.

Also, it may be fine to litter your film with brand names, but I get distracted when I see a logo. There are so many in here that the film could well have been called Amit Sahni Ki Brands’ List.

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