Qarib Qarib Singlle - Movie Review

When was the last time you saw a mainstream hindi romcom on a middle-aged pair, that too a widow? Honestly, I can’t even remember if any such thing came out after ‘Cheeni Kum’ (2007) and ‘Pyaar Mein Twist’ (2005). Irrfan and Parvathy starrer ‘Qarib Qarib Singlle’ is one such movie which explores a less-touched territory of love stories between a pair in their late-30s.

It is the story of Jaya Shashidharan (Played beautifully by Parvathy), a widow in her mid-thirties, who works for an insurance company and dabbles in helping her friends at baby-sitting or being the ‘stepny’ aunty to their kids. Bored of the monotony, she joins an online dating portal – ‘Abtaksingle.com’, and decides to meet, Yogi (played effortlessly by Irrfan), a 40-year-old poet, who has tons of cash and yet, has a goofy simpleton vibe.

While Jaya is a regular, plain-jane, Yogi is complete opposite – eccentric in his ways while always wearing his heart on his sleeves. Together they begin a journey to meet his three Ex’es, to prove a point to Jaya - that they still miss him. What ensues is a Jab-we-met style road trip, where we get to see their relationship bloom, though still maintaining their platonic stance towards each other.

It is during these trips that the story hits a rough, bumpy patch of uneven writing and sluggish pace. At 2-hours-5-minutes, it is still a crisp film, but it tends to feel long. But, undeniably, it remains watchable all thanks to its amazing lead pair. Irffan, as always, is very good, but as Yogi, we get to see an unabashed and bindaas side to his acting, something we have rarely seen in his great repertoire of films. Parvathy makes a wonderful Bollywood debut and shines as a woman trying to break-free. Having the better-written character amongst the two, she beautifully shows the shackles that our society builds around young widows – how they are expected to lead a subdued life and are always judged. And the sequence where she finally decides to break the shackles makes you applaud for her.

My major submission would be for the screenplay writers, who could have made the narrative better – especially the story in Jaipur which seemed less convincing. Also, the movie loses its steam in the middle. But, all thanks to the two powerhouse performers, you can certainly stick around till the end.

My Rating – 3/5 (0.5 extra just for Irrfan and Parvathy)