Director: Meghna Ramaswamy
Cast: Yashaswini Dayama, Karanvir Malhotra, Abhay Deol, Manu Rishi
Ratings: 3.5 stars
The trailer of What Are The Odds, made most of us believe that this film too might explore the 'Oye Lucky Lucky Oye' reunion. It wasn't. But weren't we disappointed with Bollywood's pattern of repetition? Director Meghna Ramaswamy in her debut film brings in the concept that explores the amusing realm of two teenagers. A girl named Vivek, (Yashaswini Dayama) and a boy named Ashwin (Karanvir Malhotra).
Both of them are differently rebellious, while Ashwin the handsome head boy of the school, chooses to educate himself and bring in the necessary changes, Vivek wants to break the order completely. The rebel reflects in her name where despite being a girl she chose to be addressed as Vivek. She wants to protest against the system of education but unintentionally steals Ashwin's admit card, who was eager to take the exam. They end up spending an entire day with each other. If you are accustomed with the narration of Hollywood or even Bollywood, it wouldn't take you a second guess to understand that the entire purpose of bringing these two characters together, was to make them fall in love.
A whole new kind of craziness began when they (literally) ran out from their school to escape the invigilator. They come face to face with a few senior citizens who dance on the street. One part of your brain will question the sequence of the narration but another part of it will want to ignore everything and enjoy the frames, the shot taking style, the costumes, the location and even the logic. For some reason, Rimpu (Manu Rishi) wants to take back an old lady's set of fake teeth from Ashwin, and instead of a decent conversation, he acts like a pickpocket and even dresses up like a bush in a forest. But you will be ready to forgive everything because it is all so pretty. Much like how you would enjoy a Wes Anderson film for taking you in a world built of cake.
Abhay Deol makes his appearance as the narrator in the initial sequence of the film and finally in the third chapter as the rockstar Val. But unlike the rockstar we witness in our-day-to-day television lives, Abhay Deol does not tick the box. This rockstar has the appearance of a chocolate boy who wears regular clothes, keeps a normal beard, makes rational choices, consciously chooses to avoid sex with an underage teenager. When Vivek and Val comes across each other, you realise this is a world where rockstars are normal and the teenager behaves like the bohemians.
What Are The Odds is just a different realm where normalcy does not take a back seat, rather it takes the seat beside you and allows you to be crazy for one day, only to witness what really happens when things go wrong. A fish dies, two teenagers go to jail for setting birds and animals free from the cages, meanwhile, Ashwin who represents the normal which we are, secretly enjoys how his life...day turns upside down.
