Half Girlfriend

Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor

Producer/s: Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Mohit Suri & Chetan Bhagat

Director: Mohit Suri

Plot: The terrific trio of Ekta Kapoor, Mohit Suri & Chetan Bhagat come together to create the greatest love story ever – Half Girlfriend From the director of Aashiqui 2 , Writer of 2 states and producers of Ek Villain now comes- Half Girlfriend

Rating: 1/5 Stars (One star)

Star Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Rhea Chakraborty, Vikrant Massey, Seema Biswas

Director: Mohit Suri

What’s Good: Main Phir Bhi Tumko Chahunga by Arijit Singh

What’s Bad: Shraddha Kapoor’s thigh show throughout the film, she was perhaps trying to compete with Rani Mukerji in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and definitely her acquired accent while singing English songs

Loo Break: As many time as you want! You can choose to stay in the loo for the entire duration of the film also

Watch or Not?: You can give it a miss unless you really enjoy sleeping in air-conditioned movie theatres

User Rating:

Madhav Jha (Arjun Kapoor) is a student hailing from the royal family of Bihar’s Simrao. He has been brought up by his mother, who runs a school in the locality. He gets admitted in Delhi’s St. Stephens College under the sports quota where he meets Riya Somani (Shraddha Kapoor), and instantly falls in love with her. Riya, a Delhi girl belonging to a rich family, speaks fluently in English, which impresses Madhav as he cannot speak English properly (Yes, we Indians are obsessed with spoken English skills). Riya becomes friends with Madhav and the two bond over basketball, which is a common favourite with both of them. Gradually they start hanging out together, which Madhav thinks is a date. He falls for Riya but at the same time is well aware of the fact that he will not be able to fit in her ‘English medium world’.

While Riya clearly says that she cannot become his girlfriend (for reasons best known to her) but consoles him saying she is willing to become his half girlfriend, which Madhav’s friends understand as her tactics to use him for hanging out in cafes, cinema halls and playing basketball only. Their repeated warnings fall on deaf ears as Madhav by that time is head over heels in love with Riya.

When Madhav tries to get physical, Riya storms out of the room, stops talking to him and even drops out of the college! In no time she ties the knot with Rohan, a filthy rich NRI guy and her childhood friend. But destiny had some other plans as Madhav, stumbles upon a divorced Riya a few years later and his hope rekindles. Is Riya interested in coming back to Madhav’s life? Will the two reunite?

Is Riya interested in coming back to Madhav’s life? Will the two reunite?

Half Girlfriend Review: Script Analysis

Can someone fake cancer? To start with, I found that cheap. A little bit of sensibility is expected from an author be it a book or a movie script. Only those who have lost someone close to cancer, know the pain. I am not divulging who said this to whom here as I would be giving away the entire story then. The half-baked story lacks depth and so do the lead characters, with whom the viewer will really not be able to relate.

Coming to Madhav Jha’s character, he seems to be sensible initially but loses his senses after falling for the wrong girl, who is unable to understand his emotions and does not hesitate to leave him for another man. And if he is so bent on impressing Riya (which seems to be the only purpose of his life), why doesn’t he just enrol himself in a spoken English course?

Riya Somani is confused. She doesn’t know who she loves, she doesn’t care for those who love her and seems to be devoid of emotions at times. Riya tells Madhav that she can be his half girlfriend but does not care to explain whatever that means!

Half Girlfriend Review: Star Performance

Arjun Kapoor is good and tries his best to keep the movie going. However, he needs to work a little more on his expressions which at times seem repetitive.

Shraddha Kapoor is okay and can do a lot more than just thigh show for sure. She has the potential of doing better.

Vikrant Massey impresses in the role of a loving and caring friend.

Rhea Chakraborty does a good job in her cameo.

Half Girlfriend Review: Direction, Music

Queens and wives of rich zamindars had a room allotted to them in their havelis where they would go and weep or sulk if they were angry or upset or disturbed. For Riya Somani, that room seems to be the top of India Gate, which she climbs every now and then as if it is the terrace of her own house! And strangely enough, the guards never notice her or perhaps she becomes invisible in front of them!

A large amount of camerawork goes into capturing Shraddha Kapoor’s thighs from every possible angle, perhaps even more than it focuses on her face! Also, her character lacks dimensions.

We know about the director’s penchant for including songs in a love story but too many of them disrupt the (already boring) film’s continuity. It is especially difficult to sit through the second half without yawning. Popcorns may come handy if you really want to stay awake! The film appears to be amateurish at times and this is definitely not the movie we expect from Mohit Suri, who boasts of films like Aashiqui 2, Ek Villain, Kalyug and more.

Arijit Singh delivers an excellent number, Main Phir Bhi Tumko Chaahunga and Ash King’s voice gives a magical touch to Baarish, while the rest of the songs are simply redundant. Riya Somani, who aspires to be a singer at New York’s live bars, unfortunately, knows only one song, Stay A Little Longer, which she sings throughout the film, including once in Hindi. Her acquired accent (sung by Anushka Shahaney) sounds funny at times and was absolutely not required. The same applies for her another song, Lost Without You.

Half Girlfriend Review: The Last Word

I would recommend going to a restaurant or café, chatting with friends, reading a good book, getting a spa done or whatever, just whatever that makes you happy and keeps you occupied during the weekend rather than watching this boring, silly tale. If you are indeed planning to watch Half Girlfriend, don’t tell me that I didn’t warn you before! I couldn’t rate it more than a single star.

Half Girlfriend Trailer

Half Girlfriend releases on 19th May, 2017.

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