“Hum do hamare do” generally refers to a couple and their two kids, who help complete a family. However, in the movie Hum Do Hamare Do, the hero is in dire need of parents to have a happily ever after. Dhruv (Rajkummar Rao) is a self-made man. An entrepreneur, he has created his own app and deals in Virtual Reality technology. During the launch party of his app he meets a blogger, Anya Mishra (Kriti Sanon). The meeting goes south pretty fast, but subsequently we know that Cupid has struck.
The story by Deepak Venkatesan and director Abhishek Jain, along with Prashant Jha‘s screenplay, doesn’t waste much time in delving into Dhruv and Anya's lives and shows us how love blossoms. Instead, there is a hurry to come to the central conflict as soon as possible. Anya wants a guy with a sweet family and a cute dog, and our boy here has nothing to show.
Rajkummar Rao and Kriti Sanon in a still from Hum Do Hamare Do.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube screengrab)
So what’s the issue really? Here’s a young successful man who is in love with a girl and wants to marry her. Why can’t he simply tell her he has no family? But no one clearly thought about that because then there would be no film to speak of.
It’s this need to conjure up a family that then becomes the raison d’etre for everyone involved and we have no option but trudge along.
For a film that couldn’t make the man do the obvious thing and speak up, the makers manage to regurgitate every other trope to make the story move along.
Dhruv may have no spine and lies about something like this, but he is a nice guy after all because he randomly shows up under a tree to teach street kids. Hence proved!
We also need someone to keep the humour quotient alive, and who better than a Sardar friend played by the effervescent Aparshakti Khurrana? Then there is the customary going about in circles to recruit the perfect candidates for mummyji and papaji. Saanand Verma enters the fray and ensures a few laughs in his signature style. When Paresh Rawal and Ratna Pathak Shah get locked in, even though we can see the denouement from a mile, but their solid presence makes us want to stay with the story .
Ratna Pathak Shah, Rajkummar Rao, and Paresh Rawal in Hum Do Hamare Do.
(Photo Courtesy: YouTube)
There is nothing in Hum Do Hamare Do we haven't seen or expected. In fact, even the actors have played similar roles in the past. No wonder Rajkummar sleeps-walks through the film. There isn’t a single stand-out moment for him. But Ratna Pathak shah and Paresh Rawal bring in so much credible potency to their roles that one can’t help but be invested despite the fact that they have precious little to work with.
Kriti Sanon makes it hard to take our eyes off her, and honestly her screen presence makes up for her sparse character sketch. Manu Rishi Chadha, Prachee Shah Pandya and Aparshakti try to do the best they can, but Hum Do Hamare Do remains pretty forgettable .
Why do we have to dumb down everything so much just to be able to make a story about love and family?
Our rating: 2.5 Quints Out of 5
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