Directed by Akshay Roy and featuring Ayushmann Khurrana and Parineeti Chopra, Meri Pyaari Bindu is a romantic-drama flick with a different twist to the typical Bollywood romance. Abhi (Ayushmann, also Bubla) meets the bubbly Bindu (Parineeti) in childhood and together they make some wonderful memories which Abhi captures in his story ‘Meri Pyaari Bindu’ which is best described as ‘Aafat’ in one word. Abhi is a writer who writes stories about thrills, horror and objectifying women. With his bestselling books like ‘Chudail ki Choli’, he seems to have a great career. But something seems bothering him and he’s struck on his present book since three years now. While he writes his book on Bindu, his parents decide to trick their only son and bring him by faking a divorce. Abhimanyu aka Bubla gets a Bengali style welcome when he returns back. The reason for his present day situation and sorrow is Bindu (Parineeti Chopra). The characters in the movie are engaging. The storyline in the first half is interesting and the narrative builds the suspense amazingly. The background score is sure to win your heart. The Abhi and Bindu’s cute and charming chemistry is captivating and adds to the plus points of the movie. The cinematography is poor and there’s newness in the content of the movie. You’ve surely seen these kinds of movies before. All in all, ‘Meri Pyaari Bindu’ is a onetime watch. But, the fans will surely love it, as it has Abhi and Bindu giving their best!

Remember the sacrificial, selfless love shown in the films from the Raj Kapoor era where the best friend of the heroine loved her but she only cherished his friendship? This was much before Shah Rukh Khan and Co told us that friendship is love. Meri Pyaari Bindu is a nostalgic tribute to the time and attempts a similar love story. Only, Abhimanyu Roy’s (Ayushmann Khuranna) love is not selfless and this is no classic romance. The story is narrated through a set of songs ranging from Md Rafi and Asha Bhosle’s Abhi Na Jao Chhor Ke (Hum Dono, 1961) to Aarti Mukherjee’s Do Naina Aur Ek Kahaani (Masoom, 1960) and Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar’s Disco 82 (Khuddaar, 1980). The dialogues such as “love stories to koi bhi likh leta hai, bankers bhi likh lete hain” and “background me ‘Govinda, Govinda baj raha hoga aur tu mere saamne ghutne tek ke maafi mang rahi hogi’ come as a breath of fresh air. However, the story lacks the passion and depth required for a love story to move the audience. Even at two hours, Meri Pyaari Bindu seems stretched and lengthy. Also, the narrative keeps shifting between flashback and the present, making it too confused at times. The director, nonetheless, must be applauded for bringing the 80s Kolkata and current-day Mumbai on to the screen with the minutest of details. From the signature Goddess Durga idol overshadowing people to the property brokers of Mumbai advising a single girl that landlords prefer to rent out flats to a married woman. While the nostalgic references will ensure smiles keep making fleeting appearances on your face, the film won’t quite make you root for the characters.

Meri Pyaari Bindu is like the proverbial cup of extra-milky tea with two spoons of sugar on a rainy Calcutta evening. Calcutta, not Kolkata. Because the Kolkata that writer Abhimanyu Roy (Ayushmann Khurrana) and aspiring singer Bindu Shankar Narayan (Parineeti Chopra) live, love and grow up in, is an emotion. Not politically-correct changed spellings. Director Akshay Roy's story is a slice of life. And life doesn't have happy endings. But who can tell what the next chapter holds. Director Akshay Roy gives us a story all too relatable. To borrow Abhimanyu's words, "Happy endings bikte hai yaar." The story of Meri Pyaari Bindu shines for most parts. The first half is brilliantly done. It throws you into the story right from the word 'Go', and doesn't let you stop feeling for Abhimanyu for even a moment. We see Bindu through his words. We fall for Bindu through his words. The credit behind Meri Pyaari Bindu is as much its actors' as it is the director's. Both the teams come together to create a charming film. So in the second half when Meri Pyaari Bindu falters for a bit, you want to forgive the director for the lapses. There are times when the pace of the film drops. But the next scene makes up for it. Much like the bumps in Abhi and Bindu's story. Watch the film for everything. And come out of the theatre with a big, foolish smile. The kind that appears on your face after a bite into a keemasamosa on a rainy Calcutta day, after a sip of your hot-sweet tea.

In Meri Pyaari Bindu, Abhimanyu Roy aka Bubla (Ayushmann Khurrana) and Bindu Shankarnaryanan (Parineeti Chopra) come and go, come and go, and leave us wanting more.  For a rom com (as one character in the film points out so presciently, how different can love stories be) to stand out from the ones that have been done before, setting, situations and characters have be new. Or new-ish. Ayushmann Khurrana, as the steadfast Bubla (lovely touch, that pet name), fares a little better because he is given more to play with. Parineeti Chopra is written minus requisite depth, and stays on the surface. Yes, she is bubbly, and cute, and all the descriptors given above, but that’s not enough. The background music in Meri Pyaari Bindu will resonate with those who loved making ‘mixed tapes’ (audio cassettes), which could be played on the two-in-ones so commonly used through the 80s. You need to feel that same kind of wistfulness and longing between the will-they, won’t-they lovers too. Khurrana and Chopra have a connection — they laugh at the same things even after they’ve left childhood and adolescence behind — but raise too little steam. At one point, Bindu is on the phone, speaking to Bubla, her nail varnish chipped, her make up not immaculate: she is messy, and that’s perfect, because conveying emotions is a messy business. Chopra comes alive in that scene, and makes the bittersweetness that the film is after, come to the fore too. She’s feeling the words, not just saying the line. If that had spilled over into the film, it would have made us feel. Because that’s what solidly-crafted rom coms do.

At one point, Abhimanyu’s (Khurrana) agent tells him, “Don’t try to write like Gulzar.” The writers of the movie should have paid heed to their own character’s advice. The dialogue often employs abstract lines to describe simple situations. An army Major randomly spouts, “One of you had to get hurt” with full emotion. You don’t expect this of him. There’s a throwaway pun about “coming” that just doesn’t fit. Bindu (Chopra) says something that’s right out of a self-help book but quickly declares it as, “Thought of the day,” as if to cover up the corny. It’s the simplest rom-com plot: Boy meets girl. He climbs a tree into her room, childhood tricks turn into grown-up troubles and somewhere along the line, friendship jumps the fence. It’s a delight to watch Parineeti Chopra, especially because she has a lot more to do. Her character has quirks and flaws and lows and highs and she’s more realistic. In comparison, Ayushmann’s one-note character seems to exist only to deal with the consequences of Bindu’s actions. But Khurrana manages to be charming in spite of that. Meri Pyaari Bindu will appeal to the romantic in you, but watching the movie will be a battle between the brain and the heart. Your brain and the movie’s heart, that is.