Okay, how many of you actually fancy having an unbridled shrew to romance, that too being a doormat? This movie has one hapless Kabir (Ranvir Shorey) who seems to rather enjoy taking that from a drunken Kuhu (Mallika Sherawat). If you thought this idea of sadomasochism was desi, nope, this one is a complete rip-off of Korean ‘My Sassy Girl’; since I hadn’t seen the original, I had to make do by reading the plot on web.
An out of romantic luck, flunking engineering student Kabir happens to find a ‘talli’ Kuhu leaning towards an oncoming Mumbai local on one fateful night. The swaying girl pukes over a passenger, calls Kabir ‘darling’ and gets knocked out. Unwilling to leave her to her fate in the dead of the night, Kabir takes her to a shady motel. Next morning, Kuhu commands him to come to Marine Drive, beginning their sadomasochistic romance.
As much as he tries to avoid the dominatrix, she always seems to get him. Imagine, the guy can’t order the food he wants, choose what to do, bear the abuse, wear stilettos and petticoats, takes slaps, and has to carry her to safety after her knockout. Funnier still are her futuristic scripts that he’s got to sell to producers! But, having already fallen for her; Kabir makes up his mind to put a smile on the face of her sad past! The rest is workable.
Ugly Aur Pagli is neither a sweet romance nor is a comedy you can relate to unlike its predecessor Pyar Ke Side Effects. About Kuhu, I wish the film makers could have done more to bring out the cause of her sadness, than just seemingly fake nakhre. Despite this, Mallika stands out throughout. Playing the doormat to perfection, Ranvir Shorey seems to have perfected playing the whipping boy, especially after ‘Mithya’.
If you are still wondering whether to watch this movie, the answer is a clear ‘No’. With characters not really developing much, you don’t feel for either! There are quite a few jokes you would laugh at, but none really are showstoppers. Music is passable, with the ‘talli’ song targeting gen-next drinkers, but isn’t still good enough. At the end of it all, if they made this film out of another DVD, they could have surely done better.
