Rating: 2/5 stars

There is a basic rule of a love story - audience should care for the lead pair to unite. It is this fundamental rule that is not adhered to by director Anshai Lal for Phillauri. Whether it is the love story of Anushka Sharma and Diljit Dosanjh or the one between Suraj Sharma and Mehreen Pirzada, you don't really root for them. Their romance starts on a sluggish note, is hardly interesting in the middle portions and by the time it is time to see them take 'saat pheras', you have already lost interest. That, when a good 10 odd minutes are spent in the climax trying to showcase it all as a magical affair. Alas, but there is no magic whatsoever, hence resulting in Phillauri turning out to be a dull affair that is just not the treatment you expect from a romantic tale.

You do want the film to be entertaining though. The beginning, though cliched, is fine as Suraj arrives from Vancouver to Punjab and is confused about tying the knot with his childhood sweetheart Mehreen. To add to the confusion there is a friendly ghost (Anushka Sharma) who is herself wondering what she is doing in a house where a wedding is taking place. So far so okay, as some light hearted moments interspersed with peg-downing uncles and aunties does take you into the world of Vicky Donor and Tanu Weds Manu.

However, it all begins to go downhill from that part of the film when actually it should all have elevated to a different level altogether. The whole Punjab portion is hardly engaging and the geet, kavita, gaana bajaana and tava (gramophone record back then) doesn't really fetch your attention. The interval point stays on to be dull too, which is in line with 15-20 minutes preceding it and though there is a twist in the tale soon after interval, surprisingly it has been treated in such a casual manner that one wonders how could Anshai have let go off dramatising such a key plot point.

Things only continue to stay low right through the second half of the film, especially the Punjab portions from 100 years ago and the only times when the frames truly shine is when the narrative switches to the current times. Otherwise, the whole framing of the film stays very dull and surprisingly Anshai also chooses to place majority of scenes during the night. That only makes the film further slow and sluggish, hence making one wonder where is it all headed.

The pre-climax thankfully has a nice plot point but yet again, it is brought to fore in a subtle manner though there was all the scope to take the film to an all time high. Instead, the entire climax is so much stretched with hardly a dialogue or two for an entire 10 minutes that you wonder why is the editor just not cutting it all short.

No wonder, each of the actors too stays on a linear zone right through their play on scene with neither Anushka or Diljit, nor Suraj or Mehreen getting much of an opportunity to rise and shine. Anushka tries but she has been much better in the past. Diljit, who was so good in Udta Punjab, is dull. Suraj starts off well but falls into monotony eventually. Mehreen looks like a lesser known actress Ishita Sharma (Dulha Mil Gaya) and surprisingly even plays a similar part.

The film's advantage is its low cost. Also, Anushka needs to be applauded for picking up a different kind of a subject. Now if only the treatment was more high energy, Phillauri may just have turned out to be an enjoyable affair.