This misspelt word “singlle” has a different meaning once you have watched the film. It almost seems like it was written by Yogi , the vibrant, easy going shayar we meet in ‘Qarib Qarib Singlle’. He has six self-published books on poetry, studied engineering but never got around to actually working. He doesn't need a job and casually informs us that “paise bohot hain”.
He is also the sort to admit that he looks like a stalker. We are wary of him and yet slightly interested, almost the same way that Jaya gets hooked on to him. She is a young widow, reserved to a fault and hasn’t taken a single chutti from office in two years. She doesn't have many friends, none actually, and although she isn’t particularly adventurous, yet she decides in one impulsive moment to join the dating website ‘Ab tak single.com’.
There are too many perverts who send her creepy messages, but good she dumps them all and meets our poet – Yogi. Thereafter, it takes off – the journey that they make together on a plane, car, and train and the one they must make internally to clear the emotional cobwebs.
That’s all that happens, and yet we stay tuned because there is a certain beauty in this nothingness brilliantly brought out by director Tanuja Chandra.
What keeps us engrossed are the performances of Irrfan Khan and Parvathy – both so accomplished that they melt into their on-screen roles. The charm and nonchalant attitude that Khan has mastered is on full display here.
His comic timing is the perfect foil to Jaya's studied silence. Parvathy's command over her character rarely slips and it is this crackling chemistry between an unlikely couple that makes it ‘Qarib Qarib’ wonderful.
‘Qarib Qarib Singlle’ never resorts to any sort of artless emotional manipulation even once. This proves to be its biggest strength.
The screenplay by Tanuja Chandra and Gazal Dhaliwal is a mature and sensitive meditation on life and love, but the unhurried pace at which the story unfolds might disappoint some.
Still watch it for its beautiful lulls and for Irrfan Khan. 3.5 quints out of 5
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