Do Deewane Seher Mein

For better or worse, the intensity of love stories is understood in terms of conflict. The bigger the conflict, the more sweeping is the love. Pop culture has routinely peddled this notion, embellishing it till this has become the norm. Ravi Udyawar’s Do Deewane Seher Mein poses a challenge to the discourse by designing a low-stakes love story, but across its runtime, the film squanders all its potential, proving in culmination that prototypes are effective for a reason. Levity aside, this is a pity because Udyawar’s film starts off almost disarmingly. Boy and girl are forced to meet. Shashank (Siddhant Chaturvedi), a marketing guy, is arranged by his parents to meet Roshni (Mrunal Thakur), a content creator for a fashion label. No sparks fly, but it rains. They are on the terrace, and the dry clothes risk getting wet. He helps her with it, and in the act, falls a little. When asked, Shashank says yes, but Roshni says no.

When the trailer of Ravi Udaywar’s romantic drama Do Deewane Seher Mein surfaced online, one was hooked to the tune of Gulzar’s melancholic Do Deewane (Gharaonda), searching for home and sustenance all over again. The haunting voice of Bhupinder Singh and the melody in Runa Laila’s timbre continue to capture the dreams, hope, and loneliness that lovebirds face in big cities. However, it turns out that old gold is being refashioned to win over a new audience, but the carat is compromised in the process.

To judge by appearance is a bad thing. This single line premise is stretched out over two and a half hours, leading to a film where you are left counting the moments where two people spark. The only nice thing about Do Deewane Seher Mein– please note, not Shehar–is that for a change a Hindi film doesn’t make you feel as if Shashank (Sidhant Chaturvedi) and Roshni (Mrunal Thakur) could be brother and sister. There is attraction, and they do act upon it, bringing their faces close enough for their lips to touch. Small mercies.