Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya Movie Review

Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya – we don’t know why this film has got a very ’60s title as it is no period film. The film is set in the near future where the robots are set to become everyday items, just like your smartphone. Aryan (Shahid Kapoor) is a talented computer programmer specialising in robotics. He works for his mausi Urmila’s (Dimple Kapadia) tech firm which specialises in creating next-gen robots. He’s also commitment phobic and averse to getting married as he hasn’t found a compatible enough girl. On a business trip to the US, his aunt sets him up with SIFRA (Kriti Sanon), her assistant. They hit it off instantly, even hook-up but then Aryan finds out that she’s a robot. This would have ended here, except that Aryan has now developed feelings for her and wants to marry her. But can humans and robots actually have a relationship? What follows is a laugh riot which also, in its own lighthearted way, tries to answer some ethical questions.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Well-known science fiction author Philip K Dick asked this profound question in his seminal 1968 novel of the same name and opened up a whole new can of worms. Would you consider sentient robots as a new species of human beings or would you still categorise them as machines still? Do they have feelings? Are they allowed to have feelings? Can they develop feelings for humans? And vice versa. The same kind of questions were asked in the 2004 Will Smith starrer I, Robot, which depicted, like this film, humanoid robots serving humanity. Then there’s the disturbing The Stepford Wives (1975), which is a psychological horror film based on Ira Levin's 1972 novel of the same name. In it, all the housewives of a small American town get replaced by their docile robot lookalikes. They are the perfect companions, homemakers, mothers, but do they actually have souls or original ideas? Do we need a society like that, where we would be happy with having a partner we can turn on and off. In Her (2013), Joaquin Phoenix plays a man who develops a relationship with an artificially intelligent virtual assistant personified through a female voice. Are we losing our faith in human companionship or have we become so insecure that we can only have relationships which can only be labelled as being imaginary.

It’s hard to understand why Aryan falls for a robot, really. He’s a good looking, fit, intelligent Punjabi boy who is not just a himbo but a computer engineer to boot. Why can’t he find a real girl to spend time with? The film doesn’t tell us that. What it gives us is a series of gags which start off as lighthearted fun but then veer towards Carrie (1976) mode towards the end.

The directors have created the perfect sanskari, rich Punjabi family, where everyone loves one another and drinks together in the evenings. SIFRA fits right in as the bahu they want and we’re sure the whole point of keeping her origins secret was redundant as they were getting what they actually desired. Yes, most of the humour comes from Aryan’s attempts to keep SIFRA’s identity safe. Despite being a computer engineer, he probably is okay with the fact he’s in love with a robot, so no conflict there.

The silly premise of the film is held together by the acting of the two leads. Shahid Kapoor is no stranger to comedy and really brings his A-game here, spouting punch lines with impeccable timing and setting up the stage for his co-stars to carry forward the gag. He’s a top notch dancer and showcases that too in a couple of songs. He does a chemistry going with Kriti Sanon, who matches his every hook-step on the dance floor. The pretty actress is the focus of the film and gets the best lines and situations. She has to enact a lot of physical comedy and has done a good job of it.

If you’re willing to overlook the serious aspects of it, the film is a laugh-a-minute masala spread. Shahid and Kriti look good together and have acted well. It’s a massy entertainer with some genuinely funny moments.