"When it comes to choosing your partner, who would you prefer - an imperfect human or a programmed robot?"
When Shahid Kapoor asks Janhvi Kapoor in Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, she chooses the former. This encapsulates the premise of the Amit Joshi-Aradhana Sah film, which explores love and artificial intelligence. I was instantly reminded of a similar Hollywood flick, Her (2013)—the Oscar nominated and Scarlett Johansson-voiced film, where a man develops a close relationship with an advanced software.
Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, though based on a similar theme, is a typical Bollywood affair, which also happens to be the reason why it fails to hold our attention for long. Despite a fresh pairing, with loads of blockbuster potential, the film does not really pass, although it does make the cut for at least an hour of mindless entertainment in the 2.21-hour long film.
A love story, with a robot at the heart of it, seemed exciting when the promos came out (a welcome change, given the blood and gore that has taken the centre-stage in Bollywood off late). And that the immensely gifted Kriti Sanon was to be that robot. Sanon, it must be said, does complete justice to her part—she plays it with unparalleled alacrity and fervour. In the role of a humanoid Sifra, she comes so unbelievably close to what an actual sexy robot may look like, that, after a point, one begins to see her in and as Sifra, and not as Sanon, the charmingly hot actress wielding some serious acting chops.
So, the story of this human-machine coexistence and conflict goes like this: Kapoor is Aryan Agnihotri, an accomplished robotics engineer who works in his aunt's (Dimple Kapadia) company ERobotics. There he meets the suave and sexy Sifra, whom he takes for a human, of course, and both develop feelings for each other, and end up having sex! The next morning, Aryan wakes up to find that Sifra is actually a robot, programmed to serve and please him. His initial shock, displeasure and despair later turn into "real soulful love" for the robot, and so he leaves his own wedding, to spend a lifetime with Sifra. He requests his aunt to send Sifra over to Mumbai from the US where she is being built and readied to communicate with the humans, and is still in the testing stage. Eventually, love happens, and Aryan takes Sifra home to meet his family, and proposes marriage. Flawless, beautiful, quick, smart and a pro in the kitchen, Sifra soon bowls over Aryan's family. What follows is Bollywood-ishtyle drama.
The first half is a complete snoozefest; the dialogues are bland and boring. The only thing that can keep the viewer even a bit engaged is the foot-tapping dance number and Sanon's sizzling screen presence. Shahid Kapoor sleepwalks through the role. Even the moments with Dharmendra hardly make an impact.
This one can be best watched for Sanon, and that too, preferably, on OTT.
Film: Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya
Director: Amit Joshi and Aradhana Sah
Cast: Kriti Sanon, Shahid Kapoor and others
Rating: 2/5
