Onir's latest offering, Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz, is a romantic drama starring the National award winning actress Geetanjali Thapa (for Liar's Dice) and debutante Zain Khan Durrani. Onir has previously made critically acclaimed movies like My Brother Nikhil and I Am. So can Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz bring him the same amount of acclaim? Read our review here, (Also read: Black Panther Movie Review: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B Jordan Excel in This Superhero Saga But the Ladies Steal the Show)

RJ Alfaaz (Zain Khan Durrani) hosts a popular talk show for an FM channel in Kolkata where he narrates real-life stories and given them a philosophical spin. Archana (Geetanjali Thapa), a social media meme creator, is an ardent fan of his show. In an accidental twist of fate, they get connected by phone and beginn to communicate with each other, without knowing their identities. Through their chat sessions, Alfaaz learns to face the demons of his past while Archana opens up to new avenues and ideas in life. But will they ever meet? Having seen the movie, we wish they could have done that an hour earlier.

Okay, let's talk about the positives first. Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz rides solely on the performances of the lead actors. It is criminal of Bollywood to ignore a fine actress as Geetanjali Thapa till now, who once again excels as the lively Archana. She brilliantly captures the bubbliness of the character while hiding the inner turmoil of struggling with leukoderma. Though it is his debut movie, Durrani gives a confident performance as the RJ with a mesmerising voice (modelled after a real-life popular late night talk show host). Even though he reminded me a lot of Tahir Raj Bhasin, I would love to see Durrani in more movies ahead. Shray Rai Tiwari, who made his debut with Onir's Shab, is decent as Archana's friendzoned pal.

Talking about the plot, there are some moments in the conversations between Archana and Alfaaz that are interesting, though there is no standout moment to talk about. The placement of the plot on Kolkata is quite refreshing, even though a fellow Bengali critic friend did point out a couple of loopholes to me.

On paper, Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz has an endearing story; I mean who doesn't like a feel-good romantic movie that works on dialogues. I have friends who swear by the Before Sunrise series.  However, dialogues are not the forte in Onir's movie, though I loved some of the shayaris that Alfaaz utters during his show. Also, originality is something KBA lacks completely. The main thread is something we have seen in innumerable movies like You've Got Mail and closer home in flicks like Sirf Tum, Dil Hi Dil Mein, Ghajini and most prominently, The Lunchbox. It's a mystery that Onir wanted to tackle themes that Ritesh Batra's acclaimed movie handled so beautifully. Even Archana's track with her bestie is something we can't help but connect with Ranbir and Anushka's track in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. (Also read: Valentines Day 2018 Bollywood Couples: Virat ; Anushka, Ranveer- Deepika and Other Real- Life Jodis Will Make You Jealous AF)

And yet, the 'inspired' threads can be forgiven if the plot looks engaging throughout. That's where Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz fails the most. It is too long for its own good, as the movie doggedly shifts its attention to other uninteresting subplots than the main love story. Archana's whole hassle with memes could have been quite interesting, if those memes were actually funny and even original. The whole social media idea works only in parts. I never get the idea why Archana finds it wrong to make revenue out of memes; don't you need money to survive? And shaming someone by taking a picture and making a meme out of it is not a cool idea. So rich and spoilt thing to do!

Alfaaz's backstory is super clichéd, predictable from the word go and doesn't add much to the plot other than having a hero with a dark past. Wish the writers would have thought something innovative in these portions. Quite a disappointment, I must say!

Yay!

- The performances of the lead actors

- A couple of interesting moments

- The setting of Kolkata

Nay!

- Lacks originality

- Too lengthy

- Some subplots don't work at all

- The movie focuses away from the main track for quite long

- The whole social media track didn't work for me

Final thoughts

Years ago, I was blown away by Onir's debut movie, My Brother Nikhil. I remember crying for hours even after the movie had ended. Unfortunately, the director has never managed to go above the benchmark he made in his first movie, and his latest effort does little to change things. Do feel bad about this since both the lead actors, Geetanjali and Zain are in fine form here. But their sincere efforts are let down by a cumbersome movie that has a grudge against originality, no amount of philosophical couplets can compensate for. Disappointing!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 15, 2018 05:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).