- Date of Release: 21 June 2024
- Genre: Comedy, Drama
- Language: Hindi
- Watch On : Theatres Only
Ishq Vishk Rebound
Introduction
It was in the summer of 2003 when a Gen X Hindi film was out with a bunch of fresh faces. While the film wasn’t expected to do well, its foot tapping numbers ensured an opening wherein youngsters like me flocked the cinema halls. That film was Ishq Vishk that later became a cult while putting a prominent face like Shahid Kapoor on the map(and look at his body of work today❤). Almost two decades after the release of Ishq Vishk, the makers came up with a ‘genius’ idea to revive the franchise with a love story that catered specifically to the Gen Z. But the stark difference between the two films was in its setting – while Ishq Vishk was set in an urban college in Mumbai, the Rebound did not quite have an identity of its own. As a result, youngsters back in the day could connect to Ishq Vishk and the language that it spoke, but I am not so sure about Ishq Vishk Rebound. But then does Ishq Vishk Rebound manage to impress, let’s find out.
Story & Screenplay
Ishq Vishk Rebound follows the story of two newly turned singles who happen to fall in love that risks the virtue of friendship between the two of them, as well as folks around them. First things first, the story here has nothing to do with the first Ishq Vishk that had transpired 20 years earlier. But I was rather confused on what the story had to offer? Was it a breezy Rom-Com featuring two individuals(or were there 4?)? Was it the complexities of a modern day relationship amidst the Gen Z setup which is known to be a frivolous generation? Was it just a comedy of errors resulting in confused state of relationships? Was it nothing at all as the film did not have a story to begin with? The major flaw of this film begins from its non-existential writing that had nothing to offer at all. The writing was so surface level that it lacked even a basic sense of depth that you would expect from a Gen Z film. The best part about its screenplay was its length standing at just about a 100 minutes that opens and closes in a jiffy. But the lesser I say about its content, the better. After a point, it just seemed like a collection of scenes even as the drama began to run riot like a headless chicken in all directions.
The drama falters from the word go. If you remember the first installment of Ishq Vishk, it did spend considerable amount of time in its world building and characterization. But the same just isn’t true here wherein the drama directly opens with the workplace of the protagonist Raghav working as a writing with a supposed production house. The frequent breaking of the fourth wall by the protagonist did not make sense at all even as the drama shifts to a past timeline featuring the protagonist in his college days in Dehradun with his friends who are dating each other. And even as Raghav finds himself in and out of a relationship, he begins a confused relationship with his best friend Sania which is even more confusing to the viewers than Interstellar.
The proceedings are meandering, often moving from one incident to another featuring Raghav and Sania even as their exes Riya and Sahir are oblivious of this development. One of the most critical ingredient for a love story to prosper is the emotional connect between the characters with regard to its viewers. So if I happened to connect with Raj and Simran from DDLJ then I knew that the movie has worked big time for me. But such is not the case with Raghav and Sania even as they meander on a treasure ‘haunt’ to strengthen their new found relationship that only further complicates matters going ahead with Riya and Sahir. I honestly found the entire setup ‘Faltu’…oh ummmm faulty….and rather pointless. At the halfway mark a character remarked ‘Yeh Ho Kya Raha Hai'(What In The World Is Happening), and I couldn’t agree more!
The third act of the drama was its last hope to salvage some kind of emotions and while there is an attempt made at extracting it, the drama began to head in four different directions featuring the script of Raghav to quickly switching sides to the Dehradun chronicles that refuse to end, to simple resolutions between friends to an even more cliched resolution of the love stories. The drama was like a headless chicken which didn’t know where it would end, and the same confused state was with me who waited patiently for this rebound to end. It was homestly shocking to see this project get greenlit because the failure of it was from the story point, even as the makers were playing catchup in this horribly penned screenplay that is as bland as ever!
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are frivolous just like the drama but atleast in sync with the lingo of the Gen Z. The music is honestly the only saving grace in a drama so bad that even some of the recycled numbers provided some level of respite. The cinematography is good too capturing the transition shots very well. The production design looked glittery but that was about it. The editor could not have done much here given how patchy and fragmented the screenplay was in the first place. Director Nipun Dharmadhikari has been a good and a safe director(which is why I was willing to give this film a fighting chance too) but here he misses the mark. Quite honestly, it is only so much a director can do when the writing is off, and here he falters with the world building and characterization that result in this drama being soulless. The direction is pretty ordinary to put it in a good way but Nipin still could be forgiven for this blemish given the writing.
Performances
The performances are a mixed bag here. Jibraan Khan(the littke boy from K3G has now grown up) as Sahir is a little inconsistent with his performance and could still do with a little polishing with respect to his dialogue delivery. Naila Grewal who was outstanding in Maamla Legal Hai, is pretty good here too as Riya. But it was amazing how a better actor was given a shorter screen time even as the ‘lesser’ actor enjoyed a better character! Pashmina Roshan as Sanya suffers from the same syndrome as Sara Ali Khan wherein she isn’t quite sure on how much is enough to convey the intended emotions in a scene. As a result, either she goes overboard with the emotions or completely underpar in a rather inconsistent act. Yes, she looks pretty and the spark is there with respect to her screen presence but hope she takes a learning from this outing wherein she isn’t quite effective. The only actor that shines through and through is Rohit Saraf who is terrific as Raghav. He desperately tries to infuse life into this lifeless drama but even he can’t prevent this ship from sinking. He was brilliant nevertheless and hope he keeps getting such chances in future to prove his acting prowess.
Conclusion
Ishq Vishk Rebound is a ridiculously frivolous Gen Z love story with zero emotional depth in a drama that runs in all directions like a headless chicken. I guess I will need to opt for a (movie) ‘Rebound’ after my twin Saturday debacles. DM if you wish to ‘partner’ with me😂😂. Available in a theatre near you.
