It’s bright, it’s bubbly, it’s racy. It’s flippant, it’s contrived, it’s lengthy. Photocopy is a Marathi language Indian romantic comedy film, produced by singer and first time producer, Dr. Nehha Chandna Rajpal. She, her husband Akash, and Omkar Mangesh Datt,  have reworked the Archie-Betty-Veronica fable three times over, to give it a new, contemporary look. What if Betty and Veronica were twins? What if Archie could not tell one from the other? What if another boy had a crush on Veronica? Propped by some energetic performances, the film almost pulls it off. But remember, this is a pre-review, and what I am recording here are first impressions, based on viewing half the film.

Why half? Here’s a full explanation. A general invitation to the screening reached me on WhatsApp, indicating the show timing as 8 pm. Later, a confirmation gave it as 9 pm. A massive traffic jam meant that I reached the auditorium at 9.07 pm. This was a première of sorts, with a whole list of glitterati scheduled to attend, which could lead to the screening getting delayed. Among old acquaintances, I exchanged pleasantries with actors-directors Ashutosh Gowarikar and Makarand Deshpande. Yes, the screening was delayed. But by as much as 90 minutes? Hadn’t bargained for that. Projection began at 10.30 pm. Since the film is about 140 minutes long, there was a mid show intermission, at about 11.40 pm, which lasted more than 20 minutes. Had I stayed on, I would have reached home at about 2 am, hardly the time to partake dinner. So, my photocopying mission ended at the intermission.

Photocopy is a term used in the film to describe twin children. For reasons that were not clear, a grand-mother narrates the story of her son and how his wife conceived twins, as soon as they consummated their marriage. Identical twin sisters were born, one growing up to become modern and brash, the other orthodox and principled. As would happen, the two fall in love with the same boy, in sequence. The boy, till the end, does not realise that he is actually dating two sisters, and the sisters do not know that either, thanks to a set of co-incidences. The plot is a romantic comedy, with drama and humour, set in a college backdrop, with slapstick and sadistic scenes juxtaposed against the pangs of first love.

It seems too long ago, but when theatre actor Vijay Maurya played underworld Don Dawood Ibrahim in Anurag Kashyap’s first release, Black Friday, he caused quite a stir. As a writer, he began with Striker, following it up with Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, Chillar Party, Hunterrr and Dhanak. Maurya’s 2014 Konkani film, Nachom-ia Kumpasar, was a runaway hit. Photocopy marks his directorial debut, and happened thanks to composer Shailendra Barve, a friend of the Rajpals.

Says Maurya, “I have admired the cinema of Vijay Anand, Mansoor Khan and Imtiaz Ali. I have also had the good fortune to work with Anurag Kashyap, Nishikant Kamat (Mumbai Meri Jaan) and Nagesh Kukunoor (Bombay to Bangkok). Working with all these directors inspired me to direct a film.” There is very little evidence of the above-named makers in his style. Background music goes hammer and tongs at you, non-stop; scenes suddenly slip in and slip out without context; some characters are half flushed out, others disappear without a trace; co-incidences are too frequent to be swallowed under the suspension of disbelief principle. But there is no denying the feel-good factor and some genuinely touching moments.

Vandana Gupte (Double Seat, Andhali Koshimbir, Time Please, The Other End of the Line--Hindi and English, Meerabai Not Out—Hindi, It's Breaking News—Hindi) plays the character of a fun loving grandmother of the twin sisters. Daughter of noted classical singer Manik Varma and Amar Verma, she is effortless. Parna Pethe (Rama Madhav), as the sisters, is a power-house. If the film does well, it will be in no small measure due to Parna’s fluidity of dialogue and expression. Chetan Chitnis, the hunk with the soft exterior is good, without being brilliant. A former student of the catering college where parts of the film were shot, he has a vulnerable smile. Anshuman Joshi is a slice-of-life Devashish, while Jayant Wadkar carries off a contrived role with flair.

Should you see the film? Take a call.

A look at the trailer will help.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykhbIeQWhmE

P.S. There are two instances of marathon screenings I have attended. In one instance, I fell asleep, in another, I walked out 30 minutes into the projection. Both films made record collections at the box office.

1. Hum Aapke Hain Koun?

My then employer, Mr. Sushil Kumar Agarwal, owner of the Ultra Video label and publisher of Ultra Waves, which I used to edit, took me along to the now defunct Novelty Minuet at Grant Road, Mumbai. He had acquired video rights of the film. For some reason, the start was delayed by about 60 minutes. The film itself was about 240 minutes long (later pruned to 199 minutes, and had a 30 minutes long interval, when heavy snacks were served. Not prone to dozing off during screenings, I just couldn’t keep awake in the second half. Luckily, I became awake not too much later, and caught Renuka Shahane at her best. Salman and Madhuri were okay and good respectively. Renuka, on the other hand, lit up the screen. I did not like the film very much, also because I had seen the Bhojpuri original, Nadiya Ke Paar, made by the same banner (Rajshri Productions) and loved it. Nadiya Ke Paar was released in Eid week in Mumbai and flopped. Later, on a scattered release and re-release, it broke records.

Hum Aapke Hain Koun? 5 crore tickets were sold, collection over Rs. 1.23 billion in India and 1.35 bn. worldwide!

2. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

It was the International Film Festival of India, in New Delhi. (IFFI was since moved to Go). At IFFIs, time is of essence, since one is trying to catch as many films and possible, and long films are generally avoided. Having missed it in cinema halls, where it was smashing all records, what better place to catch it than IFFI? It was 185 minutes, as billed. The organisers decided to invite some personalities to introduce the film. They came 30 minutes late. Then they proceeded to speak for 35-40 minutes, totally. I was in for a marathon 255 minute session, four hours and 15 minutes. This better be good. It wasn’t. Thirty minutes into the story, I was wincing under the obnoxious comedy that was unrolling on screen, perpetrated through Archana Puran Singh and Anupam Kher, and some indifferent (I am not a fan) basketball. A major decision was taken and I slipped out of the net. On the box office, the erroneously spelt Kuch Kuch Hota Hai ranked only third, behind HAHK and DDLJ.