If there is one thing that Meri Pyaari Bindu proves, it is that our good old retro songs can liven up even the most lacklustre of stories. If you shed a little tear here or smiled softly there, remember it's all the magic of these timeless numbers .
When we hear Abhi na Jao chhod ker or the classic Aayiye Meherban, we wake up to the love that these melodies conjure up. If do naina ik kahani leaves you teary-eyed, it has more to do with Gulzar and RD Burman than Abhimanyu and Bindu's pyaar.
The only thing director Akshay Roy gets right is the nostalgia of the 90s by smartly weaving it with these gems so that we sit through the first half of Meri Pyaari Bindu in relative peace . It is post interval when Abhimanyu and Bindu are left to peddle their wares and convince us of their dosti and pyaar that it falters .
The film's biggest flaw is its writing. Ayushmann Khurana is a bhodrolok Bengali who leaves his desk job for what he believes is his true calling in life – to write. It's another matter that he lets himself be arm-twisted to add sex in his books by his publisher and has the bestseller Chudail ki Choli to his credit.
Abhimanyu Roy's other passion is Bindu – his childhood friend, neighbour and the only girl he loves. He rues: "Pyaar karna bohot log sikhate hain per use bhulate kaise hai koi nahi batata."
The story moves back from the present day to the first time they met. It indulgently stops at the very junction of his life when he professed his love and Bindu smiled and called him cute. Initially, the songs help us to be patient but slowly the flawed characters and writing get the better of us.
One feels bad for Ayushmann, the man is sincere and manages to look adorable while playing a bland single-tone character. Parineeti here gets a raw deal. She is effortless in the "bubbly " bits, but as we itch to know more about the Bindu behind the happy-go-lucky facade, it's a dead end.
For a love story one feels neither the love nor is convinced by the trajectory of the story.
1.5 quints out of 5. Meri Pyaari Bindu – No Thank you !
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