Ladies vs Ricky Bahl Movie Review: 'Ladies vs Ricky Bahl'; Quite A Few Pros To This Con...

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With two new comers in tow, Band Baaja Baaraat was one of the most unexpected of hits from last year, and made instant stars out of Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh. The film was also a debut for director Maneesh Sharma, and turned out to be a critical and commercial success too. With everything going right for it, it's clear that Yash Raj films is keen on sticking with a winning formula, which is what sets up its latest release, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, with the same Anushka-Ranveer-Maneesh combo behind it. But, can the banner gets twice-lucky?

For one, though the team might be the same, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl is no Band Baaja Baaraat. While the earlier film was a charming rom-com about middle class Delhi, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl could best be called a slick 'rom-con', with far more up-market aspirations. Instead of Maneesh himself, this time around, the story is penned by producer Aditya Chopra, who crafts an interesting enough plot, with a con-game at its centre, but doesn't quite find complete synergy with his players.

Ladies vs Ricky Bahl revolves around a slick con artist who's made a habit out of relieving pretty young women across the country off major sums of money. So, if he cons Dilli ki Dimpy out of a cool couple of million rupees, pretending to be hot-shot trainer Sunny Singh, in Lucknow, he defrauds a young widow, Saira, out of another million by pretending to be the shy Iqbal Khan. However, when he takes rising corporate star Raina Parulekar for almost half a crore by pretending to be art dealer Deven Shah, she decides to hit back at whom she calls bloody kameena by getting the other two titular ladies together. Raina, Saira and Dimpy together, decide that they want to get back at the nameless con artist by running a con-game of their own, for which they hire Ishika, a smooth-talking, uber-talented saleswoman, who can pretend to be a billionaire heiress, and a fake target for him. However, it waits to be seen whether they can actually con the con or are they had again.

While the film's premise is a fine one, the problem with Ladies vs Ricky Bahl is that its two stars, Anushka and Ranveer, don't quite seem to have shaken off the airs of their earlier role. Anushka's Ishika, in chief, is very reminiscent of her Shruti Kakkar, with a similar, glib, smooth operator's persona, while retaining her middle-class, almost small-towny charm. While it's not a negative, one supposes in a film like this one would expect a slicker turn. The air between Anushka and Ranveer, too, is taken by the Band Baaja vibe, with Ranveer's confession scene with Anushka especially similar to the climactic moments of the earlier scene. The talented Anushka tries her best to scorch the screen, at point even donning a bikini in a Bond girl-type sequence, the persona sticks.

Another jarring point is the fact that as its lead, Anushka enters the fray far too late in the film, coming in only at the interval point, with the film focusing on Ranveer's cons until then. Director Maneesh Sharma obviously has a way with romantic comedies, especially when he's partnering with Habib Faisal, of Do Dooni Chaar, who pens the dialogues here. The trick, between the two, is that they like to keep it simple, and it works to beautiful effect here too. Though there are a few off-key moments stretched too long, for the most part, Sharma manages to craft an engaging film with great chemistry between all his actors.

Sharma also manages to get some very effective performances from his stars. While Anushka is peppy and charming as always, Ranveer shows off great promise again, in what is only his second outing. The actor has put on quite a load of muscle for his role here, and melds into his hunky character, especially in the second half. The actor, who earned applause for his natural Jat stylings on his debut, manages to replace that image with a much slicker one here.

In the 'Ladies', Dipannita Sharma and Aditi Sharma, as Raina and Saira, respectively, do a fine job of their roles, with Aditi especially captivating in her quiet ways. However, the scene stealer here is debutant Parineeti Chopra, whose hilarious turn as the typical Delhi spoilt brat Dimpy is sure to have audiences in splits. Parineeti, a cousin of the more illustrious Priyanka Chopra, manages to get into the very skin of her role, and delivers her non-sequiturs of dialogues with such a natural pout that you can't help but laugh out loud.

Though Salim-Suleiman are on composing duties, again, for Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, the film isn't quite a musical tour-de-force. While aadat se majboor works fine in the opening, and jazba makes a fair mark too, the film doesn't have any standout musical moments to speak of.

Given that Yash Raj films has chosen to retain the same creative team on Ladies vs Ricky Bahl as on Band Baaja Baaraat, the comparisons between the two films are simply unavoidable. In fact, a more appropriate comparison would be another Yash Raj release, from earlier this year, Luv Ka The End, which had a similar revenge comedy set-up. Still, perhaps it's a unfair line to take, and on its own merits, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl works well. While it may not be an instant classic, the film has its own charm, and for Maneesh Sharma's direction, the chemistry between Anushka and Ranveer, and Parineeti Chopra's hilarious debut, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl deserves to be watched once, at least.