Movie Reading : Happy Ending

Somehow Saif has made his image of a playboy and Casanova kind of guy through movies like LAK, Cocktail (both from his home production Illuminati films) and he continues with that image in Happy Ending also. I think that’s what make you like him, a happy go lucky, disbelieving in love, instant make up instant break up type of person. But in the end, like in every other movie, his heart changes and he feels true love and everything ‘ends’ well. With a name like ‘Happy Ending’, what else you could expect by the way?

You would expect a better written story from a movie which starts with Ye dooriyan song in background, bringing emotions immediately if you would have liked LAK. But the whole movie could actually be summed up in a 1-minute scene between Ranvir Shourie and Saif where Ranvir says,

"Tu jis se pyar nahi karta, us ladki se shadi kar raha hain. Tu jis se pyar karta tha wo jab chahe apne bacho ke sath tere ghar par rehti he. Aur tu jis se pyar karta hain, wo tere sath wahi kar rahi hain jo tune ab tak apni sari girlfriends ke saath kiya hain."

In short, Karma comes back and Ileana does exactly the same things with Saif which he keeps doing with her girlfriends.

It also puts across the point strongly that sustainable love happens between similar people. ‘Opposite attracts’ happens only in magnets. Being opposite as humans results in mere fights. It is not about being right or wrong. No matter how ‘Kamina’ type of person Saif is, he doesn’t fall in love because he never found a girl with a similar type of thinking until he met Ileana.

On many levels, the movie also justifies why movies and novels of ‘happy ending’ type actually work and become successful. Ultimately, this movie falls into the same trap and becomes exactly one of them. Ordinary people don’t come to watch how you want to change the world and some serious kind of stuff. In one dialogue Govinda says to Saif,

"300 rupay me logo ko jeena mat sikha."

And when Ileana answers it beautifully when asked why she writes conventional and idealistic type of love stories,

"Humari zindagi me itni bhid hoti hain, ki do logo ke bich ka pyar usme kho jata hain. Pyar bachane ka ek hi tarika hain, use kitabo ke panno ke bich likhke bech do."

There is also a scene between Saif and Preity where Saif tries to justify his behaviour and his reasons of running away from commitment. Too much focus on commitment just spoils the relationship.

"Commitment ke lalach me jitna hain usko bhi barbaad kar dete hain."

Many people would disagree with such thinking and perhaps therefore in the climax scene, Saif puts it in a more balanced way,

"Kise chahiye life long ka commitment, bas ek ek din karke jiyege, na baad ka sochege, na pehle ka yaad rakhege, bas aaj ko sambhalege."

Simply saying, stop being depressed about the past and anxious about the future. Just live in the present and enjoy every day. Find that thoughtful?

Finally, it is really just another rom-com movie. Just expect some light moments and do not look for a well-knit story. I wish Govinda would have got more screen time (as in Kill Dil) to make the movie more tolerable.

Dialogue of the movie:

"Kehte he opposites attract. Jhuth hain. Hum har jagah apne aap ko dhundhte he aur agar wo mil jaye toh use hamesha sambhal ke rakhna chahiye."