critic's rating:  2.5/5

Cast: Rajkumar Rao, Shruti Haasan, Gautam Gulati, Gulshan Grover, Ranjeet, Kamlesh Gill, Darshan Jariwala, Ninad Kamat, Mrunal Jain, Herry Tangri, Reena Aggarwal.

Rating: 2.5 stars

Quick take: Perfectly average romantic comedy

Back in school, every boy lives in dread of the thought, where his crush comes over to tie a rakhi. Like modern day's friendzone, this thought used to be called bhaizone. Where boys used to get converted into brothers and not lovers. Behen Hogi Teri is a film based on this idea. Its setup in the more orthodox environs of Lucknow to allow the Bhai-Behen connection seem more relatable. While its a decent premise for a comedy, the film just doesn't do anything of value with the thought. The film plays out like a run-of-the-mill comedy of errors. The movie retains a level of emotional intelligence, but in the midst of its uninspiring screenplay, it stays perfectly average.

In true genre fashion, the story is based around a boy and girl. The boy, Gattu (Rajkummar Rao) loves the girl since they were kids. But he's never managed to muster up the courage to pursue his romantic ambition. The girl, Binny (Shruti Haasan) is bubbly and spirited. She gets the local girls to tie rakhis to the local boys. Once Gattu decides to chase his love, situations turn into a comedy or errors. Gattu keeps getting bhaizoned from Binny's family, his own parents as well as everyone else. Also thrown into the mix are Rahul (Gautam Gulati), Binny's suitor from France and Bhura (Harry Tangri), Gattu's best friend. Bhura's bahubali family lead by erstwhile villains like Ranjeet and Gulshan Grover add to the madness later on in the film.

While the premise of Behen Hogi Teri holds promise, the film is written with very little imagination. It plays out in a terribly familiar fashion. Its like you’ve watched this film's formula 10000 times before. The elements of boy stalking girl, girl falling head over heals at the drop of a hat and then the standard misunderstanding is all too convenient. You know there's a happy ending in the offing and you know it 15 minutes into the film. So the rest of the 100-odd minutes seam like a tiring wait for it to unfold. The film’s writing does have an eye for detail, but it does not shake things up. It follows a tried and tested pattern and ends being plain vanilla.

Shruti Haasan looks beautiful as ever, but her role lets her down. The writing does her no favour as she goes from being fiercely independent to hopelessly in love for no reason. Rajkummar Rao brings in an authentic performance. While he does have a spark, even his efforts aren't the most consistent. Harry Tangri, playing the best friend and Gulshan Grover in an extended cameo look effortless.

Behen Hogi Teri is a decent popcorn flick. While it doesn't do anything wrong, except may be make it's lead man a bit too much of a coward, it also doesn't ever break free from the feeling of familiarity. Like countless romantic comedies before, this film just feels like another romantic film made on a template. Perfectly average, nothing special.

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