Baar Baar Dekho: An offbeat movie with a new concept

Baar Baar Dekho makes you think "Are you valuing your present?" or "Are you running after your future, letting the present moment slip away from your hands?"

The movie begins with the song "Kho Gaye hum Kahan" where we see Jai (Sidharth Malhotra) and Diya (Katrina Kaif) growing up together. The childhood sweethearts have a blissful life. Jai is a mathematician, whereas Diya is an artist. Diya is clearly the driver in their relationship who is governed by her heart. Jai, on the other hand cannot think anything beyond logic and believes that life is a set of calculations.

Although Jai admits that he and Diya are like an old married couple who know everything about each other, he feels uneasy when Diya proposes him for marriage. Although he says yes to marriage, his focus is only on his career. He is so engrossed in his future that he fails to see Diya's unconditional love for him. It eventually results in a fight between the couple on the night of Sangeet.

Jai sleeps that night and his whole life is drastically changed. How? The director shows the audience that Jai wakes up in various time periods of his life. At first, he wakes up in Thailand, where they have gone for their honeymoon. The audience is as clueless as Jai and cannot figure out what actually is happening.

In the same manner, Jai wakes up on the day he becomes a father. Then, he wakes up on the day when he is having a divorce. The pattern continues till the time Jai understands the value of living in the present, valuing relationships and the importance of work-life balance. Once he realizes it, the time travel stops and he wakes up in the present.

Now, what exactly happened with Jai? Was it a dream? Was it his subconscious mind that made him realize his mistake? Was he really travelling in time? Director, Nitya Mehra has left it to the audience to figure out.

Baar Baar Dekho is an offbeat movie with a new concept. The beginning of the second half  is a little boring which can test your patience, but the last few minutes of the movie touches the right chords. The movie will linger even after you leave the theater, The message of the movie is strong and relatable in today's context. It is not the big gestures, but the tiny, little things that you do for your loved ones on a regular basis which has the maximum impact in your life.

Sidharth Malhotra manages to pull off the complex role with panache. Katrina Kaif is good in some scenes, but she falls flat in many emotional scenes. Debutante director, Nitya Mehra has done an outstanding job in her first movie. The movie, however, lacked depth. Had it been a little more intense, it could have grasped the hearts of the audience better.

However, with a good dose of comedy, great chemistry between the lead pair, a powerful message and enchanting music, Baar Baar Dekho is a great one time watch. I will go with a 3 and a half stars.