Friday Night Plan movie review: Babil Khan film is slight but sweet while it lasts

The school Sid and Adi attend is one of those globalised co-ed institutions where affluence is in the air, the girls and boys are well groomed, and the question– who will I ask to the prom– hangs heavy in the air. Nary a grungy student in the mix, not even for laughs. An inter-school football match turning into a site of minor conflict, with the nerdy Sid becoming an instant hero– he scored the winning goal! He’s now deemed cool!– is the limit of these teenagers turning angsty.

A drive in a car across deserted Mumbai streets turns into, not a sex-and-violence-soaked tragedy, but an inoffensive dramedy: a night-duty cop (Sheth) has egg on his face because of an ill-judged throw from the car-load of teenagers, and that is the extent of the edgy stuff we get. The rest of it is kids peppering every line with bro-and-dude, playing beer pong, and indulging in pillow fights. Heavy-breathing, petting, sexting? Nah, not for these sanitised, squared away kids, busy writing college applications to go abroad.

Babil Khan, in a more conventional role after his debut in ‘Qala’, reaffirms my conviction that this is an actor who tries to dig deep into his character to come up with the truth. I liked his Sid, as much as I did Adi, the younger, pesky brother who’s on the older bhaiya’s case, but is always, ultimately, on his side. ‘Friday Night Plan’, is slight but sweet while it lasts.

Friday Night Plan movie cast: Juhi Chawla, Babil Khan, Amrith Jayan, Ninad Sheth
Friday Night Plan movie director: Vatsal Neelakantan
Friday Night Plan movie rating: Two and a half stars