Review of Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015) by Tyler — 03 Feb 2016

This movie stands out foremost because of the character of Sandhya - marvellously played by Bhumi Pednekar. Contemporary Bollywood doesn't reflect Indian women at all. It essentially reflects American led pop-idea of a woman- skinny with prominent chin and cheek-bones. I hope more Sandhya-like characters will be included in future Hindi movies. If Hollywood can give ample opportunities to plus sized actresses like Melissa McCarthy, Rebel Wilson, Gabourey Sidibe, Phyllis Smith etc., Bollywood can surely follow.

There is one lacuna in the film though. The dialect of Hindi spoken by the actors is not matching with the geographical location of the plot. This dialect is prevalent in southern and central Uttar Pradesh. "Kachhu nahi hot hai" is a dialect found once you go cross Mathura going south. A chaste dialect of Hindi is prevalent in Haridwar where the story is set.

Overall the movie is far better than the 'multi-million-star-studded-blockbusters' which Bollywood is so fond of. Thankfully there are no item songs, no fight scenes and no muscle-mongering. A piece heart-warming cinema steeped in Indian ethos.