Tere Mere Phere Movie Review: Mundane Marriage Melodrama

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After watching gems like Mirch Masala and Sardar directed by Ketan Mehta, an average cinegoer would expect some quality from a film helmed his spouse Deepa Sahi. However, sadly, her debut product Tere Mere Phere comes across as a major disappointment right from the opening to the end credits.

The lead actors, Rahul and Pooja (Jagrat Desai and Sasha Goradia respectively) run into each other at a typical North Indian marriage, promptly fall in love with each other (how predictable!) and tie the knot before one can say 'Jack Robinson'. Both are apparently smug about the fact that they scored highest in a compatibility test, which comprises of a quiz probably meant for college teenagers.

During their honeymoon to Himachal Pradesh in a camper van, cracks start developing in their relationships over the silliest of things and the otherwise lovey-dovey couple shriek and shout at each other throughout the journey. Sahi takes the opportunity to throw in a lot of gender based clichés here-Rahul being a man refuses to ask for directions even after having lost his way while driving and Pooja being a woman is fussy about cleanliness and order. While deciding to cut the trip short and take a flight home due to their differences, their immature antics result in the flight being cancelled and they are forced to take their camper once again, albeit with an unwanted passenger-Jai (Vinay Pathak), a co-flier who has to urgently reach Shimla to prevent his lady love Muskaan (Riya Sen) from getting married.

A desperate Jai hijacks the camper with a gun (which is revealed to be fake in the last few minutes of the film) and forces the couple to take him to Shimla. However, the tables are turned when the constant bickering between Rahul and Pooja gets onto his nerves (we do emphatise, being fellow sufferers) and he starts ruing the minute he got in their camper.

After a lot of the proverbial 'tu tu...main main' between the couple, a time comes when Jai himself starts dreading the prospect of marriage and develops cold feet. However, by now, the couple is united for the common purpose of helping Jai re-unite with Muskaan even if Rahul has to use force and slap Jai around a couple of times.

Muskaan, a girl as irritating as Pooja, finally meets the rest of the gang and after dodging a muscular brother in law who is against the union, Jai finally manages to marry Muskaan, re-igniting the romance between Rahul and Pooja in the process. Needless to say, they all live happily ever after...though the same cannot be said for the traumatised viewers.

With the possible exception of Vinay Pathak and Darshar Jariwala, who plays Jagrat's father, the rest of the cast hams with gusto. Both the ladies, Goradia and Reeya Sen seem to be vying for the 'Most Irritating Female On The Planet' award with their high pitched voices, tendency to scream and shriek at the tiniest of reasons and general 'dumb blonde' behavior.

On the plus side, Vinay Pathak puts in a gallant effort to save the movie from utter disaster. The scene when his character Jai argues with the pandit to hurry up the marriage rituals provokes a few well-deserved chuckles.

Moreover, Deepa Sahi shows us all the right places to visit in Himachal Pradesh and for that, the viewer shall be eternally obliged. If only she could take out the three major irritants (Desai, Goradia and Sen) from the movie, Tere Mere Phere could have been a half decent product...