Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. (2007)

In Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd., six newlywed couples begin to make the adjustment to married life.  These crucial first days of marriage are pivotal for everyone - some marriages grow stronger, some don't even make it through the film, and others come out somewhere in between.   For the viewer, though, the journey is delightful - tasty and sweet, and a little bit salty too. 

Traveling together on a package honeymoon to Goa, the film's six couples run the gamut.   Hitesh and Shilpa's (Ranvir Shorey and Diya Mirza) marriage was arranged, but Shilpa won't stop weeping, and the more she cries the angrier Hitesh gets.  Aspi and Zara (Abhay Deol and Minissha Lamba) are childhood sweethearts who have never had a fight - but more than that makes them a little different from everyone else.  Pinky and Vicky (Amisha Patel and Karan Khanna) are young and raw; Pinky is a dreamer, and Vicky doesn't really know who he is.  Bunty and Madhu (Vikram Chatwal and Sandhya Mridul) met on the internet; both are recovering from heartbreak, but they have a lot to learn about one another.  Partho and Milly (Kay Kay Menon and Raima Sen) both need to loosen up before they can learn to be happy.  Finally, Naheed and Oscar (Shabana Azmi and Boman Irani) are fifty-ish and on their second marriage; they have seen one another through some very tragic times and are ready to face the world together.

Oscar and Naheed provide the anchor for the film, not just because they are played with perfect tone and timing by two of India's most talented actors, but also because their sad backstory brings to the group the gravity of life experience that the other couples have not yet weathered. In one of the film's pleasing mini-arcs, Naheed and Oscar first draw titters and whispered comments from the other couples, tickled by the idea of "oldies" on their honeymoon; as the story advances, though, they seem to lead by example, and the younger newlyweds come to look up to them as a model couple, both pragmatic and ideal.  Indeed, Naheed gets the final word in the film, a slightly heavy-handed but very touching summary of the film's message about love and openness. 

The other couples lack Oscar and Naheed's grounding and so some of their stories are left unresolved at the end of the film.  One of the couples appears to have reached an uneasy compromise; though they are content at the film's close, it is still clear that their marriage may be stuck in unnavigable waters.  Another couple is left to face difficult times as they get to know themselves and one another.  This is not a weakness in the film, however; it is appropriate, and true to the subject, as the problems in these marriages (as in real marriages) are too complex to achieve more than a superficial resolution in a two-hour film.  Any attempt to tie up the threads of every marriage would have seemed facile and false.  Instead, Honeymoon Travels takes leave from its characters at a moment of contentment, which the audience knows is only temporary for some of them. 

The film's music, by the team of Vishal-Shekhar, was excellent too, setting the light, fun tone from the opening credits, set over the infectious straight-up funk "Albela albela," one of the two best songs in the soundtrack.  The very best song comes toward the end of the film - "Sajnaji vaari vaari" is a free and sun-soaked celebration in which all of the honeymooners participate, some with more loosened inhibitions than others.   There is also a smoking salsa number and a couple of gentle love songs to round out the music. 

The performances of the young actors were adequate, with one exception.  If there is one weakness in the film, it is the performance of Vikram Chatwal, whose delivery is wooden and expressionless, weakening the important and challenging arc of his character Bunty and of Bunty's marriage to Madhu.  Still, most of the others are up to the task presented to them, especially Kay Kay Menon and Raima Sen, whose strait-laced, nervous Partho and Milly undergo perhaps the biggest transformation in the film.   

Honeymoon Travels has been criticized for a lack of depth and focus, but this strikes me as unfair.  The film is not trying to do too much; it never takes itself seriously and operates in a cinematic universe that is self-consciously a little different from the real world.  Judged on its own terms, Honeymoon Travels is light, gentle, and very, very funny; often sweet, and a little magical.   It is a fully enjoyable ride.

Honeymoon Travels was my 20th Shabana film!

Comments

[Daddy's Girl]

I was going to give this one a miss, as it seemed like the sort of contrived comedy I usually hate. But your review makes it sound worth watching and I have grown to trust your judgment - I think I just might be headed to the cinema when it comes out here next week.

Congrats on your 20th Shabana film!

[Sanni]

>>Honeymoon Travels was my 20th Shabana film!
Congrats! I've *technically* also seen 20 of my favourite's films (one is technically unfinished thanks to crappy DVD). Of course, you have many, many, MANY more films to go whereas I, uhh, don't. :D But eh, soon.

As for this film, hmmm, will have to see about seeing it when the DVD is out. I'll gladly watch Boman in anything but Amisha Patel? Er, not so much. Good to know you think positively of it, though.

[carla]

Daddy's Girl: I think if one's expectations are in line with what the film is offering, the movie will be rewarding. There are parts that are side-splittingly funny, anyhow.

Sanni: I have no strong feelings about Amisha Patel, one way or the other. I can say that though her character had a brief song she wasn't really a focus of the film. So I don't think there's enough of her to get in the way.

[Daddy's Girl]

Hi, I just saw this and liked it - so thanks! I wouldn't have seen it if not for your review. It was an enjoyable two hours. Having seen the movie, I agree with just about everything you've said. Oh, and your favourite did a great job. As you noted, her closing speech was a bit preachy, but it summed everything up pretty well. Shame about Vikram Chatwal, though. One gets the feeling he tried his best, but it wasn't nearly good enough - especially opposite Sandhya Mridul, who I thought did very well with her role.

[carla]

I am so glad you liked it, Daddy's Girl - I feel like stumping for this film, as I really loved it and I want it to be noticed. I can't wait until the DVD comes out - I want to see it again and see if it stands up to my tasty memories of it.

[maxqnz]

I'd give this film 8.5 for intention and 6.75 for execution. Less would have been more, specifically one fewer couple. For example if Madhu's husband had found his love interest outside of the Vicky-Pinky pairing, that pair could have been removed, and more time would have been available for looking at the couples that were left. Also, I found the "resolution" of the madhu/bunty joDi unsatisfying. Such marriages have worked, and many probably still are, but as surprises go, that's a doozy, and I doubt the trust issues raised by having that one thrown at you AFTER the shaadi would be smoothed over quite that quickly.

I liked Kay Kay's character, and found his stiff insecurity very believable. But it was unquestionably Mr and Mrs 55 who carried and redeemed the movie. Except for "hit them over the head with the message" sermon at the end, every scene of theirs was a standout. I especially liked their conversation with Ditta, where Boman's character gently mocked her Orientalism, and Shabana's gently chiding foot tap seemed exactly right for a couple who were friends long before they were a couple.

I'm going to have to try to watch the last 10 minutes again, as the DVD kept skipping, and I want to make sute I haven't missed anything that might improve the film for me. Thanks for the review, Carla, and for pointing me to yet another film that challenges my ageist bias against modern Hindi cinema.

[carla]

With this movie, perhaps more than any other, I feel a little surge of almost maternal pride every time someone discovers it and falls in love with it. I am so glad you liked it, maxqnz, as it is and remains a favorite of mine. In fact, last weekend I watched it for perhaps the fourth time and loved it just as much as the first.

My feeling about Bunty and Madhu - Pinky and Vicky, too, actually - is that their stories have not resolved, even though they seem content at the film's close. The film is merciful enough, to them and to us, to leave them at a moment of temporary peace. But we know that they have a lot of work ahead of them, and they (with the exception of Pinky) probably know it too.

Oh - and the scene you mentioned, where Oscar and Naheed spin for Ditta that beautiful metaphorical tall tale of how they met - is my ABSOLUTE favorite scene in the film, bar none. As Naheed says, muqarrar!