A shaken Kanan tries to avoid her, but for how long? And how is he going to explain it to Anu, who now thinks that Kanan has changed from a genteel lover-boy to a weed-smoking hipster who plays around with women's feelings.
No prize for guessing, but Kanan soon finds out that the tree that he married the previous day contained the ghost of a woman named Shashi (Anushka Sharma) who now believes and takes him to be her lawfully-wedded husband. Things move at a faster rate as he is directed by the family pandit (Hindu scholar) to first marry a tree so that he can get rid of his astrological curse. Already mad with the swift turn of events and unsure about the whole marriage thing, Kanan tries to speak his mind, but it all falls in deaf ears. Kanan (Suraj Sharma) is a young man who arrives from Canada and is taken by his parents straight to his would-be-fiancée and high school sweetheart Anu's (Mehreen Pirzada) house for their engagement and subsequent wedding which is scheduled a week from now. With Amol Palekar's Paheli (2005) as a solid benchmark, it can be difficult to create an interesting film, as this ambitious project by a debutante director shows. Successful fantasy dramas in Bollywood are a rare phenomena. On the whole, 'Phillauri' may not work for all, but it did for me. Mehreen Pirzada as Kanan's fiancé, is wonderful. Diljit Dosanjh as Phillauri, is restrained. The actor is terrific & displays his gift for physical comedy. Suraj Sharma as the henpecked Kanan, springs a pleasant surprise. Performance-Wise: Anushka Sharma shines as Shashi, the friendly ghost. Shashwat Sachdev & Jasleen Royal's Score is good. Cinematography, Editing & Graphics, are decent. Had the Writing been more crisp, the overall result would've been a lot more effective. Anvita Dutt's Screennplay is sweet, but needed some trimming & a more consistent tone. Sure, 'Phillauri' is far from perfect, but what I liked particularly here is the breezy & lighthearted tone.
As mentioned before, the first-hour works, but the second-hour doesn't arrest beyond a point. What starts off as a light-hearted, slow-moving story about lovers, turns into a really long story of departed souls. But, the biggest letdown here is the culmination. The contemporary love-story of Kanan & Anu, works far better & scores on its humor. The old-age love-story of Shashi & Phillauri isn't arresting enough, although there is a certain earnestness to it. Its the second-hour, where 'Phillauri' takes in flaws in heaps. The tale of the ghost & the henpecked leading-man is amusing. The first-hour is more on the comedic side & the laughs are register. 'Phillauri' has an interesting premise & it makes good use of it.
'Phillauri' Synopsis: A man must marry a tree to ward off threats to his love-life, but the tree turns out to have more spirit than the man bargained for. This Fantasy Romantic-Comedy is inconsistent & over long, yet its a sweet tale with a clean heart. I, somehow, liked this odd little film, despite its shortcomings. I've read reviews that are really good to downright terrible.
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