What
if
we
get
the
chance
to
rectify
all
the
big
mistakes
of
our
life?
And
what
if
a
magical
wand
takes
us
into
the
future
to
personally
witness
all
those
critical
twists
and
turns
on
the
road
journey
of
life
where
we
may
swerve
into
the
wrong
lane?
And
then,
what
if
we
get
a
chance
to
revise
our
actions
and
deeds
accordingly?
Debutant
director
Nitya
Mehra's
"Baar
Baar
Dekho" is
unlike
any
romantic
yarn
--
I
hesitate
from
giving
it
that
loosely-used
term
the
'rom-com'.
It
is
the
ultimate
what-if
saga,
narrated
with
a
tender
care
and
subdued
splendour
that
makes
every
moment
between
the
lead
pair
precious
and
gladdening.
Watching
the
film,
we
are
just
happy
to
see
Jai
and
Diya
together.
It
could
be
because
they
are
played
by
two
of
the
best-looking
stars
in
our
cinema.
Sidharth
Malhotra
and
Katrina
Kaif
look
so
made-for-each-other
that
it
seems
absurd
to
even
suggest
that
they
can
be
separated
by
destiny
or
design
--
or
in
this
case
by
designed
destiny.
But
human
nature
is
such
--
and
this
is
the
'sach'
(truth)
that
this
unusually
conceptualized
film
dwells
on
with
mollifying
magnificence
--
that
it
sinks
the
very
ship
that
keeps
hope
afloat.
With
believable
nearsightedness
--
don't
we
all
mess
up
in
life?
--
Jai
tells
Diya
on
the
day
of
their
wedding
that
he
would
rather
not
marry
her
and
instead
pursue
his
dreams
of
going
to
Cambridge.
The
hurt,
humiliation,
bewilderment
and
disappointment
that
Katrina
shows
on
screen
in
her
sequence
of
painful
rejection
dashing
hopes
of
shared
lifetime,
is
a
joy
to
behold.
This
is
the
first
occasion
in
her
career
when
Katrina
has
actually
sunk
her
ego
into
her
character.
You
can
see
her
feeling
the
hurt
and
the
happiness
with
equal
sincerity.
Bravo!
Sidharth
Malhotra,
so
far
seen
giving
performances
where
his
matinee-idol
looks
obfuscate
his
other
purported
virtues,
comes
into
his
own
with
a
character
who
is
clueless
about
the
stunning
time
travel
that
fate/destiny/karma/kundli
puts
him
through.
It's
a
morality
fable
bolstered
by
bouts
of
effervescence,
nostalgia
regret
and
pain.
It
takes
us
a
while
to
fall
into
a
rhythm
and
pattern,
as
Sidharth
Malhotra's
character
of
the
Maths
teachers
hurls
from
one
age-span
into
another
in
pursuit
of
the
unforgivable
lapses
that
could
ruin
anyone's
life.
Just
imagine:
you
fail
to
show
up
for
your
wife's
painting
exhibition
and
she
falls
in
love
with
her
arts
dealer.
Or
you
may
not
cuddle
your
little
daughter
when
she
asks
you
to
do
so,
and
this
may
cause
indelible
damage
to
your
domesticity.
Exceptionally,
"Baar
Baar
Dekho" trusts
silences
to
the
talking.
There
are
long
passages
without
background
music
to
over-punctuate
the
drama
of
disintegration
that
the
couple
plays
out.
The
emotions
the
couple
exchange
seem
relevant
and
real,
as
the
dialogues
(by
Anvita
Dutt)
rip
off
pages
from
contemporary
marriages
all
over
the
world
without
creating
a
cut-and-paste
haste
in
the
conversations.
There
is
plenty
of
the
rare
quality
of
gravitas
tucked
away
in
the
mischievous
love
tale,
none
more
mischievous
than
the
pundit
(played
with
able
astuteness
by
Rajit
Kapur)
who
is
supposed
to
solemnise
Jai
and
Diya's
wedding.
Jai
thinks
the
pundit
is
responsible
for
his
rushed
futuristic
time
travel.
But
is
he?
Is
this
ability
to
stare
your
mistakes
in
their
eyes
a
quirk
of
fate?
Or
is
it
something
else?
"Baar
Baar
Dekho"
doesn't
seek
or
give
us
substantiated
answers
on
cosmic
mysteries.
Why
Man
does
what
he
does,
who
is
responsible
for
our
actions
--
sometimes
horribly
wrong
--
we
don't
know.
Neither
does
the
film.
Director
Nitya
Mehra
glides
with
a
silent
giggle
and
a
sigh
across
a
beautifully
painted
skyline
of
wistful
thinking.
There
is
plenty
to
celebrate
in
"Baar
Baar
Dekho",
not
the
least
of
its
virtues
being
the
ability
to
deliver
marital
home
truths
without
sermons
or
soliloquies.
As
the
film's
main
premise
suggests,
the
success
of
a
relationship
is
in
the
smaller
details.
Likewise,
this
film.
It
strings
together
scenes
from
a
situation
of
marital
calamity
with
an
easygoing
swagger
that
Ingmar
Bergman
would
have
found
distracting.
The
actors
have
given
their
heart
and
soul
to
the
main
parts.
And
some
of
the
supporting
cast
--
not
all,
I
am
afraid
--
is
also
exceptional.
But
the
real
hero
of
the
film
is
Ravi
K
Chandran's
camerawork.
The
magician
that
he
is,
Chandran
imbues
every
frame
with
warmth
charm
and
beauty.
Sequences
recreating
Cambridge
University
(where
a
Ramanujan-like
professor
mentors
Jai)
reminded
me
of
that
very
fine
Ramanujan
biopic
"The
Man
Who
Knew
Infinity".
The
futuristic
styling
is
apt
without
getting
outlandish.
Come
to
think
of
it
--
there
is
nothing
over-the-top
in
this
quietly
accomplished
film
except
the
"Kala
chashma"
song
and
dance.
Why
on
earth
was
it
used
to
promote
the
film?
That
zingy
cheesy
aura
of
that
song
is
so
not
the
film.
"Baar
Baar
Dekho"
is
about
getting
a
chance
of
changing
the
mistakes
in
life
without
making
them.
But
really,
I
can't
think
of
one
thing
I'd
like
to
see
changed
in
this
film.
Except
maybe
Sarika's
prosthetics
when
she
plays
dead.
Someone
overdid
the
mother's
wrinkles.
(This
story
has
not
been
written
by
Filmibeat
writer
and
is
an
IANS
feed.)