Pati, Patni Aur Woh
Year: 2019
Director: Mudassar Aziz
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Bhumi Pednekar, Ananya Panday, Aparshakti Khurana

2019 Pati Patni Aur Woh may share the same title and the production house (of the Chopras!) with the 1978 Sanjeev Kumar-Vidya Sinha-Ranjeeta-classic but it is not a remake. Of course, the central theme still remains a farcical comedy about a married man falling for another woman and then trying to do a ‘balancing act’!

What’s the plot?

A young Kanpuria engineer (Kartik Aryan) is quite happy in his small-town married world but his ambitious Lakhnavi wife (Bhumi Pednekar) is not. She keeps nagging him about moving to Delhi and leaving his comfort zone. The hassled hubby’s eyes light up when a young damsel (Ananya Pande) walks into his office, asking for help to find her a plot to set up a new company. Proximity builds up; sparks fly and suddenly the married man finds himself lying through his teeth to keep up appearances. His office-mate-cum-best friend (Aparshakti Khurana) is the one he falls back for damage control, but complications keep on building up!

Verdict

For most of the parts, Pati Patni Aur Woh is fun to watch. Writer-director Mudassar Aziz gets the farcical tone right and manages to give some contemporary touches to the characters. Even though there are plenty of comic situations, characters and complications to get regular laughs, the pacing is uneven, and the film takes a while to hit the straps and again slows down before an unimaginative climax.

The lead trio disappoints. Kartik Aaryan’s and Ananya Panday’s portrayals are strictly average, and Bhumi Pednekar loses through trying too hard! The best performances come from supporting actors like Aparshakti Khurana playing the juggling best buddy; Neeraj Sood playing the glutton uncle and an unnamed actor playing a lovelorn callow collegian.

Rating

2.5 stars