Film Review: Bhool Chuk Maaf

Banner: Maddock Films & Amazon MGM StudiosGenre: Romantic Comedy / FantasyCensor: UA

Story & Screenplay

Bhool Chuk Maaf is a love story with a time-loop twist inspired by the Hollywood film Groundhog Day. The film follows Ranjan Tiwari (Rajkumar Rao), who is caught in a repeating cycle of pre-wedding preparations for his marriage to Titli (Wamiqa Gabi) in Varanasi. The narrative explores how Ranjan navigates the consequences of unfulfilled vows and seeks a way out of the time loop.

The story by Karan Sharma has a fresh, small-town charm. However, the screenplay (with additional input from Haider Rizvi) struggles, especially in the second half. The repetitive sequences of haldi ceremonies, failed attempts, and comic mishaps test audience patience, reducing the entertainment value.

Even the climax sermon by Bhagwandas (Sanjay Mishra) fails to generate the intended impact. While some humor lands well, the post-interval portions become tedious. Dialogues, by Karan Sharma and Haider Rizvi, are heartwarming and excellent, providing some relief amidst the narrative fatigue.

Performances

• Rajkumar Rao shines as Ranjan Tiwari, bringing charm, humor, and relatability to the time-loop chaos.

• Wamiqa Gabi impresses as Titli, delivering a lively and engaging performance, though slightly overdone in a few scenes.

• Sanjay Mishra is wonderful as the middleman Bhagwandas.

• Raghubir Yadav and Seema Pahwa are first-rate as Ranjan’s parents.

• Zakir Hussain is excellent as Titli’s father.

• Other supporting actors, including Anubha Fatehpuria, Himanshu Kohli, Dheerendra Gautam, Jay Thakkar, and Poornima Sharma, provide satisfactory support.

• Special appearances, like Dhanashree Verma in a song-dance sequence, are adequate.

Direction & Technical Aspects

• Karan Sharma’s direction is competent, but the weak second half undermines the narrative.

• Tanishk Bagchi’s music is good, though none of the songs have achieved notable popularity.

• Lyrics (Irshad Kamil, Armaan Sharma, Shaan Yadav) are pleasant.

• Vijay A. Ganguly’s choreography is decent.

• Ketan Sodha’s background music is serviceable but could have been stronger.

• Sudeep Chatterjee’s cinematography is excellent, capturing the town’s vibrancy.

• Action sequences are functional.

• Production design (Amit Ray, Subrata Chakraborty) and art direction (Dilip Rokade) are standard.

• Editing (Manish Madan Pradhan) is sharp.

Final Verdict

While the first half is charming and entertaining, the excessively repetitive and irritating second half significantly weakens the overall impact. Bhool Chuk Maaf suffers from pacing issues and is unlikely to perform well at the box office.

Box Office: Likely to underperform due to weak post-interval portions.