MUMBAI (Web Desk) – Happy Bhaag Jayegi is set in Punjab, where a vibrant, young and independent woman Diana Penty (Happy) is thrust into marriage by her parents to Jimmy Shergill (Daman Singh Bagga) who is a local political goon in Amritsar.
But when you imagine that the duo will experience a happy life together, things take a drastic turn or rather we can say a curious turn when Happy runs away from the marriage hall leaving everyone confused. Her main intention to run away is to marry the love of her life Guddu (Ali Fazal).
The program goes awry and she lands not in the arms of the man she loves, but in another country. Thanks to a mix-up, Happy travels in the back of a truck from Amritsar to Pakistan and finds herself in the home of Bilal Ahmed (Abhay Deol), the son of a powerful politician.
At first taken aback by her abrasive manner, Bilal decides to help Happy. Except that his plan is so convoluted it makes no sense.
Instead of Happy returning to India and marrying Guddu (which would have resolved the film’s main conflict in 30 minutes), she prefers to stay back in Pakistan. The idea is to bring Guddu to Pakistan and get the two married to avoid any opposition.
It looks like even Aziz knows how silly this sounds, so he peppers “Happy Bhag Jayegi” with one-liners and slapstick comedy to distract us from the lack of profundity in the report.
The dialogue is uneven – funny in parts, but rambling otherwise. With a playing time of two hours and a plot that stretches thin, there are more gadgets than you can count, including a final-minute kidnapping, jailbreaks and chaotic weddings. But just when you think it’s all roughly to get undone, there is a amusing line or a touching moment that Aziz throws at you, redeeming himself and the movie.
Abhay Deol, who has built a vocation out of playing the confused man in love, is responsible for most of these bits. His Bilal is the standout performance of the film, eclipsing Diana Penty in the title character. Penty is reminiscent of Deepika Padukone of her early years in this film — evoking the same wide-eyed expressions and awkward dialogue delivery.
Ali Fazal plays the wide-eyed slacker boyfriend to the hilt, and Jimmy Sheirgill can probably sleepwalk through the “tough guy-who-doesn’t-take-the-girl” character by now.
