It’s a known fact that Bollywood loves remakes. Nothing guarantees success (at least on paper) like the remake of a successful film. So, we’ve seen remakes made from blockbuster films of other industries and in recent decades, also witnessed production houses remaking blockbusters of their own. Pati Patni Aur Woh, the official remake of the 1978 cult classic with the same title, is the latest addition to the list.
Like the original, this film also is a romantic-comedy that involves a love triangle of sorts. Set in Kanpur, Abhinav (Kartik Aryan) works in the PWD department and is married to Vedika (Bhumi Pednekar) who works as a tutor in an institute. Theirs was an arranged marriage between two Lucknow-based families. After a point, Abhinav starts to experience a sense of boredom in his life. That’s when Tapasya (Ananya Pandey) enters his life. She is in the city on business—doing plot visits—Abhinav ends up as her guide for the same.
Despite his best friend-cum-colleague Fahim’s (Aparshakti Khurrana) councel, Abhinav ends up in an emotional soup. One on hand, he has his dutiful wife Vedika, and on the other, he finds himself attracted to the energetic Tapasya. It all starts from a lie that he tells Tapasya and things go haywire from there.
When a film that released in the 1970s gets remade in the 2019, there is always an air of curiosity among the public. For a genre like romantic-comedy, it’s vital that the writing is updated without compromising on what we call the ‘soul’ of the film. Pati Patni Aur Woh ticks all the boxes in that regard and a major share of the credit needs to go to writer-director Mudassar Aziz who has done a fabulous job in packaging a universal plot to fit the modern-day dynamics. The revamped screenplay exudes freshness, as do the characters.
Kartik Aryan is clearly comfortable with comedy, be it slapstick or situational, and while there is a tinge of the Akshay Kumar of the early 2000s, the former has managed to create a niche for himself. Bhumi relishes playing the bold woman and she does it with élan and it’s in the emotional sequences that she sparkles. As the more vibrant character, Ananya Pandey fits the bill and is pleasing to the eye. She is still a raw talent but the charm she exudes is hard to miss.
As the quintessential hero’s sidekick, Aparshakti Khurana is again on point. He shares a good rapport with Kartik but doesn’t have the same scope to create humour as he did in Luka Chuppi. Nevertheless, there are many fun moments with him around. The supporting cast is quite efficient. Shubham Kumar as Vedika’s infatuated student stands out.
Chirantan Das’ cinematography gives the required desi feel to the film’s locations. The music is also hummable although it’s the chartbuster remix Akhiyon se Goli Maare that’s the pick of the album.
On the humour aside, Pati Patni Aur Woh has a theme that’s relevant today as much as it was in the 1970s. We can see the funny side of people stuck in such situations but unlike other rom-coms, Pati Patni Aur Woh is also able to send out a message in a subtle manner. The writing is spot-on during the climax phase without being preachy and the emotions work out well. And that is what makes the film a complete one.
