Akshay Kumar (akshay-ak-kumar)
Oh No Saif..not again. Till when are you going to portray the man child character on screen. It started with Yeh Dillagi way back in the 90s to Dil Chahta Hai to Hum Tum to Cocktail and now this film. Dude, I'm bored of these characters you play. You have the talent in you but you're wasting it. Hope Phantom will bring some reprieve. (Phantom got released a week ago and the reviews are not great, so its not a good time for Saif). When can we see you play again Langda Tyagi or Cyrus Mistry, roles which gave life to your career ??Speaking of Saif, there are two Saif's which includes one who is his inner voice. Oh Saif, why ??The movie is very slow and worse boring. And thats a pity considering it is written and directed by Raj & DK who gave us the excellent Shor in the City and the enjoyable Go Goa Gone. Looks like a case of lost in translation.Ileana D'Cruz in a meaty role doesn't disappoint. However, her character is poorly written like the film. Its the supporting casts that saves the film a bit. Ranvir Shorey and Kalki Kochelin are top notch and when they're on screen, you'll have a laugh. However, its Govinda who steals the show. In a short cameo playing a Bollywood star, he is fun to watch and his hilarious. Wish Saif, Raj & DK had given more screen time to Govinda's character. This would have been a far better film.
bobbysing
Friends who have seen Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK's (aka Raj and DK's) earlier ventures such as 99, SHOR IN THE CITY or the recent GO GOA GONE, would readily agree that the director duo really showcased some exceptional talent in these three films, moving ahead than a routine Bollywood project made on the same old set routine patterns. Hence, watching the witty promos of HAPPY ENDING, well supported by a few peppy dance numbers and an interesting cast really made everyone expect a fairly enjoyable rom-com from the team once again.But perhaps crime thrillers remain their proved forte and a romantic comedy is not exactly the genre Raj & DK are comfortable with. Because what they present in HAPPY ENDING is full of all been there-seen before sequences with nothing fresh except few occasional good dialogues or only four entertaining scenes of Govinda.Taking its clear references for certain insertions (like the book reading one) from BEFORE SUNSET (2004) and more, HAPPY ENDING begins on a fairly interesting note and then goes on to become a boringly long ride with everything predictable till the end. The romance loses all its charm as it progresses and the writers remain confused between their target audience making a vain attempt to cater the viewers within the country as well as abroad. In fact this has been the dilemma or conflict seen in most of the projects today when they try to incorporate plots for both the diverse territories and in the effort make a complete mess out of the film deliberately.With no impressive performances delivered by the lead pair, HAPPY ENDING once again wastes the gifted Govinda just like the last week's KILL DIL. The veteran has only 4-5 scenes in the entire film, but still manages to give you at least something to cheer in those few minutes, especially in the song "Nacho Saare G Phaadke" offering his famous and immensely enjoyable dance moves. Saif Ali Khan continues his 'no-show' post BULLETT RAJA & HUMSHAKALS, plus Ileana D'Cruz gives another similar yet sweet kind of appearance as the fellow writer. Ranveer Shorey tries hard to contribute his bit & does bring some rare smiles with his witty dialogues but Kalki, Preity Zinta and Kareena Kapoor fail to add anything significant to this long, painful watch in their small cameos.Music remains the only saving grace in the film (with few catchy dance tracks), which unfortunately doesn't get the support it deserved from the script. On the other hand Cinematography as well as Background score do not come up with any extra ordinary feature to mention here.In short, its really strange why the director duo chose this kind of stale and overdone subject for their next venture….. Or was this another case of the producer interfering into the script as per his own vision as always. In any case, HAPPY ENDING is not at all a HAPPY watch to recommend with nothing else to offer except Govinda. So you can easily give it a skip to be later watched at any Cable Channel or on Home Video when its official DVD gets released in the coming week.
abhinav sonker
Happy Ending does just what the doctor ordered, providing a sweet romantic comedy at the end of 2014. The story is as fundamental as it can be, still the events playing out on the screen are as refreshing as tangy orange after a exhaustive workout, makes you smile more often than not.You get to see what you want, with Ileana stealing away the heartbeat with each of her grace and timely dialogues. The dialogues are wittingly written, Saif and Ileane did justice to it. The romance develops fittingly with this generation, direction is simple yet meticulous.Govinda seems getting close to his old times best, Ranvir is apt in the supporting role, with Kalki also doing reasonably well.Some lively music and Rekha Bhardwaj's unique voice has filled in the silent voids well.Overall one would have a hard time finding a dull moment, with the audience asking for more.Ileana deserves a special mention for having brought me to the the theater, rest all the review is objective.
sesht
1st things 1st - Saif plays Hugh Grant from 'Music & Lyrics'. To what extent that was 'inspired' is anyone's guess.Forget about a 'happy' ending. For any kind of an ending, there should first be a beginning, followed by gradual, or rapid, as the case may be, progression. Sad to note, all this one wants to do is to rush towards the end as rapidly, or, as the lead would love to note, since he's all about men being dogs, rabidly possible, and even so, overstays its welcome.To me, this has to be one of the most disappointing efforts, and there have been quite a few this year, so that probably not saying much.The technical aspects are all there, and someone might claim this flick had its heart in the right place, at least on paper. I wish it had been better though, since what there is, is something so totally inconsequential that its perhaps not even qualified for TV viewing. Having said that, I wish I could at say it was awful. But its just meh. The target is clear, both from the marketing material and the entire intent, being drummed into us from the beginning of the flick, that this is a send-up of the rom-com/romedy genre that has been a major money spinner in Bollywood.They break the 4th wall down, and perhaps that's meant to go somewhere, but what happens next is neither smart nor entertaining. And that IS sad, since Raj and DK had my respect right since 'Flavors', and esp. with 'Shor in the city', that I was willing to overlook misfires like '99' and a half-misfire like 'Go, Goa, gone' (it could've been soooo much more). But this one kinda removed all the goodwill they've gleaned, since it is neither smart nor entertaining.A few examples of things that start out with the intent to transport us to an area Bollywood has never even tried taking its audiences to:The segments with Zinta - start strong, and you're waiting for something new, something surprising, but they ultimately go nowhere. Punch-points with Koechlin - it's like talking to someone who's just searching for that comeback line, and not getting it, even after the curtain's come down. All the 4th wall sequences, and talking to himself - nada. 1 particular sequence where one of the leads, for no reason whatsoever, becomes needy, and a certain pre-scheduled appointment needs to be broken for something else to happen - it begins confusingly, progresses even more weirdly and ultimately ends with one character getting what they want, but that moment doesn't feel earned at all, and things just go downhill from there. Lazy, sloppy, pretentious writing, IMHO, and it's not surprise that the characterization on display here is remarkably inconsistent (except for Shorey's).Many mentions are made of Bollywood, with the twists and roadblocks that occur in rom-coms, that never come. Maybe the makers thought they did, but decided not to film them? 1/2 mentions are made of songs interrupting/enhancing the narrative flow in a Bollywood flick, and the irony there? This has speed-breaker songs in abundance, and the score, like the flick, is DOA as well. I thought they'd (Raj/DK) had a good ear in 'Shor...', but their tastes have soured with the passage of time.The parallel track with an actor is so unfunny, that its dead-on-arrival even though it's strung better than the rest, and has an actor who's making fun of the caricature that each of his peer celebrities are, along with himself, and self-aware humour is always appreciated, esp. since it is in short supply all the time.A key character, used for some lazy but welcome 'smart' comic relief, vanishes without a trace after 2 scenes. And that character was quite strong too.The only saving grace, both in terms of characterization, writing and performance is wrt Ranvir Shorey, but an actor of his calibre surely knew he was acting in a dud. And we know that the title is a pun, so having it depicted as such, and once again described as such, shows subtlety (which they seemed to have in spades when it came to 'Shor...') of the sledgehammer variety, and I do understand that messages have to be obvious when catering to the mainstream (and in this case, young, as well) audiences, but that was warning enough when it occurred. No point watching this, even on TV, in my humble opinion, but that won't stop many for sure.
