Happy Bhag Jayegi Movie Review: Get Your Dose Of Happiness

What do you get when you mix Aanand L Rai's sensibilities as a producer, actors like Abhay Deol, Jimmy Sheirgill, Piyush Mishra and Javed Khan in a cross-border comedy about a bride on the run? A simple, sweet and delightful fare, of course!

Happy (Diana Penty) does a 'Runaway Bride' in order to avoid being married to corporator Daman Singh Bagga (Jimmy Sheirgill) and to get reunited with her college sweetheart Guddu (Ali Fazal). However, to her utter shock, she lands up jumping in the wrong truck and ends up in the residence of Bilal Ahmed (Abhay Deol), a reluctant politician being groomed by his ambitious father (Javed Sheikh), who wants to change the history of Pakistan.

When Happy lands up in Bilal's house, the hassled youth decides to get her reunited with her lover so that they can be deported back to India before someone gets a whiff of the situation and this soon turns into a merry wild goose chase for Happy as everyone from Guddu to Bagga to Happy's father (Kanwaljeet Singh), land up in Pakistan for the girl on the run. If that was not all, Bilal's fiancée Zoya (Momal Sheikh), suspects that there is something fishy going on between Happy and Bilal, which further complicates the situation rather hilariously.

Though the trailer of the film was not so impressive, the film certainly made us sit and take notice for the simple fact that it is full of delightful characters, funny situations and inoffensive yet humorous dialogues. Though we had feared that the concept of a cross-border romance might lead to some Pak-bashing, the makers have stayed away from jingoism, though there is some gentle ribbing.

Abhay Deol, who is back after a hiatus, has not lost his 'boy next door' charm yet and delivers a decent performance. Ali Fazal doesn't get to do much unfortunately while Jimmy Sheirgill is dependable as always in his role as Bagga. Though he plays a corporator with an entourage of goons and a penchant for taking the law into his own hands, Jimmy's Bagga comes across as a lovable lout and hats off to Jimmy for playing the character in such a way that his character doesn't come across as villainous, though his actions might seem dastardly. Diana doesn't really fit the role of a Punjabi kudi, but manages to hold her own. The film also stars Piyush Mishra as the chaste Urdu speaking Pakistani cop Usman Afridi and the man simply owns the scenes he is a part of. Mishra has got some of the funniest scenes and lines in the movie and the veteran pulls them off admirably.

The film is pacy and quite tongue-in-cheek and a sure treat for all those, who have been craving for a comedy without any risqué jokes or insensitive humour. The music is strictly ok and though the second half tends to drag a bit, we are ready to forgive the makers for this indulgence as at the end of the day, Happy Bhag Jayegi is a feel-good and decent fare made with an honest effort to make you laugh.