(Yes, the book is actually split into ‘acts’. Riya was an enigma in the book, the reasons for her demeanour, stoic personality and her actions through the story being a mystery all through, revealed only in the third act. While she was insufferable there, she’s quite, well, sufferable here.
Mohit Suri also takes the best thing about the book - the character of Riya Somani - and makes her a brooding bore, with spurts of being a slightly improved version of the high-on-life-or-cocaine character Shraddha Kapoor played in his own Ek Villain. (Sample this: At one point, when the girl covers her exposed legs, Madhav in the book reacts with, ‘Damn, I just lost my view’.) The character in the film, though, is just a brawny bumbling buffoon, his facial hair standing in for actual expressions. The character in the book is your average horny Indian male bred on a staple diet of entitlement, who shows a semblance of evolution through the story. But that’s because Arjun Kapoor completely lacks the chops to pull off the character the way it was written. (What’s surprising is that Arjun played country bumpkin so much better in his first film, Ishaqzaade.)Ībout the only not-bad thing one can say about Arjun Kapoor in Half Girlfriend is that the film version of Madhav Jha comes across as less of a sexist creep than the book version. In one scene, he says ‘loojer’ and ‘loser’ within a few seconds of each other, without irony. His supposed-Bihari accent is not only terrible, but also inconsistent. However, the film falls flat on its face, largely because rather than seeming like an under-confident but rugged, attractive, athletic and intelligent fellow - what Madhav is supposed to be like - Arjun’s Madhav comes across looking like an overgrown oaf (pardon my language, but it’s true). One of the key aspects of the story – the protagonist Madhav Jha’s struggle and conflict with the English language, can come through strongly only with a medium like cinema because in the book, everything is in English, including the bits where the character is actually speaking in Hindi. And treated with the right amount of texture and sensitivity, it had the potential to make for an intriguing watch even for today’s audience. In fact, Half Girlfriend - despite being a mostly-unimpressive and sometimes-revolting book - has the kind of story that would have been a smash hit as a film in the '90s. Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar: 5 reasons why Ranbir Kapoor-Shraddha Kapoor starrer album is ruling our hearts Luv Ranjan's directorial gives another hit album with Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar after Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety
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