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Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya: Kriti Sanon’s return to form shouldn’t be overlooked as just another mainstream performance

A female star only stands out when she does a 'serious' film. So, a Mimi would naturally get all the deserved spotlight, but a Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya runs the risk of being overlooked.

Kriti Sanon, Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha JiyaKriti Sanon currently stars in Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya. (Photo: Kriti Sanon/Instagram)

It is awkward to use the word ‘comeback’ for an actor, who has starred in six films in the last two years. But when has Kriti Sanon’s career followed a linear path? In her latest, Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, the actor breaks the monotony of her last few outings by risking playing–of all things one-note– a robot. The result is a movie which features a Sensational Sanon.

For the actor, the romantic comedy plays out almost like a game where she has to cross one hurdle after another to reach the next level. Debutants Amit Joshi and Aradhana Sah (directors-writers) stack up multiple challenges for Kriti Sanon, (starting) right from the casting–Shahid Kapoor, an actor who has excelled in the genre right from his debut.

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Though Kriti has featured in rom-coms in her career, Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya was the first time that she was paired up opposite a romantic star in a romantic film. Shahid, by virtue of his experience, has displayed remarkable hold over the genre with actresses of all ranges and craft. It is the awareness that even the audience has, they know how Shaid will make them feel when they watch his film.

The mystery–and by extension, the onus–with the film was then on Kriti. What can she evoke in a romantic film, where chemistry is supreme, the physical desire intense and the flirting worthy to make one blush. We know the Shahid Kapoor look, but what about the Kriti Sanon romantic gaze?

 

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So much of Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, especially in the first half, plays out on how Kriti looks at Shahid. It is not just in their first, amusing and wholly intriguing meeting in the US, but also their moments of coming closer. The sequence before the song Akhiyaan Gulaab features Kriti playing along with the concealed flirting of Shahid. She is direct, for she is a robot programmed that way, and she flirts back with gusto. He is taken aback, of course, but Kriti does something in that scene that remains consistent through the film: retain a certain mystique, a twinkle in her eyes.

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It is quite stunning how Kriti holds on to the task of playing a robot without once making it monotonous. It is a tricky performance, packaged in the wrapper of a rom-com, which requires her to play her part as SIFRA (Super Intelligent Female Robot Automation), whom Shahid falls in love with. She is robotic, but never stiff. She is neutral but never flat. She doesn’t feel but does emote through her eyes.

Kriti Sanon’s act in Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya is a fine showreel of an actor displaying her absolute command in the commercial, song-dance space. Since her 2014 debut Heropanti, she has been a mainstream actor, but nothing before Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya has come off as the best marriage of her range, personality and even style. Her 2017 release Raabta was an epic misfire but the film did utilise Kriti’s on-screen ease the best. It was the first film which truly presented her in a manner of a star– with her clothes, makeup and styling.

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The same year, her film Bareilly Ki Barfi marked the arrival of Kriti Sanon, the actor. She carried the small-town spunk of Bitti Mishra effortlessly, despite the presence of co-stars Ayushmann Khurrana and Rajkummar Rao, who were more seasoned than her. But none of her outings later could carry the style of Raabta or the substance of Bareilly Ki Barfi. A faint glimpse was shown in Luka Chuppi, but everything else just fell apart.

 

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A post shared by SIFRA (@kritisanon)

That is, until her National Award-winning act in Mimi. But it is easier to hail Kriti’s act in Mimi, which is a far more ‘serious’ film about womanhood, than her turn as a robot, especially in a film which doesn’t present her in what is lazily called a ‘de-glam’ avatar. The obvious baggage audience usually has with a proper mainstream performance is to inherently look at it as easy or frivolous, or less ‘worthy’. An actor in this space is already battling a wave where the audience isn’t naturally expecting them to act. It becomes tricky for female stars, who are often relegated to the sidelines. It became tricky even for Kriti, the mainstream born, who then started getting lost with outings like Ganapath, Shehzada and Bachchhan Paandey.

Through that lens, a female star only stands out when she does a ‘serious’ film which tackles a heavy societal issue or fixes a fatal flaw. So, a Mimi would naturally get all the deserved spotlight, but a Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya runs the risk of being overlooked simply because the film is wearing itself lightly, even if Kriti is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

Kriti Sanon can rightfully be criticised for her commercial outings in the last few years which only undermined her capability — her films simply could not live up to the promise she had shown earlier. But everything changes now with Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya. The actor has assuredly showcased her range in a very controlled, consistent act in the film. It was a tough task, but Kriti Sanon held her ground rather well.

Her performance in it is an answer to her acting critics, her styling a rebuttal to Diet Sabya and the likes. The beauty in it is not for lazy effect, but intentional, as SFIRA had to stand out among humans. The film was just the right marriage of style and substance that the actor needed at the moment. Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya is basically a solid Kriti Sanon, back in form, saying, I’m just a robot, standing in front of an audience, asking them to love her… or it.

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First uploaded on: 15-02-2024 at 08:02 IST
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