One by Two Movie Review by Taran Adarsh

One_by_TwoAbhay Deol’s choice of films is indeed laudable. He has made a career by picking films that defy stereotype, by swimming against the tide… With ONE BY TWO, the talented actor turns film producer and you anticipate his production debut to hit the right notes. While the effort to push the envelope needs to be appreciated, ONE BY TWO suffers because it rests on a thin plot, with merely a few episodes grabbing your attention, not the film in its entirety!

ONE BY TWO talks of a simpleton Amit Sharma trying to get back his girlfriend Radhika [Geetika Tyagi], who dumps him for her own selfish reasons. Another story that runs parallel is that of Samara Patel [Preeti Desai], an aspiring dancer, a British citizen, who aims to make it big in the Indian industry.

While Abhay’s life hits a low point after he desperately attempts to get his girlfriend back into his life, Preeti deals with her aspirations along with an alcoholic mother [Lilette Dubey], commitment-phobic boyfriend [Yudhishtar Urs] and parents’ separation.

ONE BY TWO is miles away from cliched Bollywood fairy tales. What makes it a truly hatke experience is the fact that while Abhay and Preeti’s paths cross several times in the film, they come face to face only in the final sequence of the film. Besides the out of the box concept, a few episodes keep the charm alive. To give the credit where it’s due, director Devika Bhagat has filmed quite a few sequences with dexterity, especially the ones involving Abhay and his friends and Preeti and her mother.

While Devika reserves the best for the second hour, it’s the first half and chunks in the post-interval portions that create a total mess, making you restless in the process. The story hardly moves in the first half [it tends to get boring too!], despite the spectator getting introduced to the characters at the inception itself. In addition, there are too many coincidences all through the film, which seem unreal and unbelievable after a point. The post-interval portions do raise the bar [a couple of dramatic sequences are noteworthy], but the writing lacks the power to keep you enthralled through and through.

Devika handles the sensitive relationships with maturity. Note the one when Preeti and Lilette have an altercation over the latter’s excessive drinking. Also, the sequences between Preeti and her father [Anish Trivedi] are delicately handled. Conversely, the relationship that Abhay shares with his mother [Rati Agnihotri] and uncle [Darshan Jariwala] don’t leave much of an impact. The humor, especially those involving flatulence, looks out of place. Even otherwise, the wit is missing and the humor is bland. Another aspect that goes against the film is its slow pacing as well as excessive length [it’s stretched for no reason].

The DoP captures the vibrant metropolis with finesse. The frames are indeed good looking. The soundtrack is nothing to hum about.

Abhay Deol is strictly okay this time, but it is Preeti Desai who stands out. Also, her dancing prowess comes to the fore. Rati Agnihotri and Jayant Kriplani [as Abhay’s parents] are tolerable. Darshan Jariwala is wasted. Lilette Dubey is wonderful. Anish Trivedi looks his part. Tahir Bhasin is first-rate, while Preetika Chawla is adequate. Yudhishtar Urs, Geetika Tyagi, Maya Sarao, Yashika Dhillon, Ragesh B. Asthanaa and Diwakar Pundir fill the bill. Srishti Arya appears in a cameo.

On the whole, an out of the box film like ONE BY TWO has some engaging moments, but they are few and far between. The excessive length and the slow pacing also play a spoilsport.

Rating: 2 Stars

https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/moviemicro/criticreview/id/588834

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3 Comments
  1. Author
    aryan 10 years ago

    Public Review

  2. sputnik 10 years ago

    One By Two Movie Review by Rajeev Masand

    Rating: 1.5

    January 31, 2014

    Cast: Abhay Deol, Preeti Desai, Rati Agnihotri, Lilette Dubey, Darshan Jariwala, Jayant Kriplani, Anish Trivedi, Yashika Dhillon

    Director: Devika Bhagat

    The two protagonists in One By Two – a software guy (Abhay Deol) and a dancer (Preeti Desai) – don’t meet until the very last scene of the film. It’s an usual and even a fascinating idea to construct a movie around, but writer-director Devika Bhagat can’t seem to come up with a compelling enough screenplay to beef up that idea.

    Abhay’s character Amit, still heartbroken from having been dumped by his girlfriend, spends all his time moping, or fantasizing that she will return to him soon. Meanwhile, Preeti’s character Samara, is frustrated from her dancing career going nowhere. We watch as their lives run parallel, which means we get repeated split-screens and far too many instances of ‘missed connections’.

    One of the problems with this film is that it plays out like a sitcom. There’s enough chick-lit philosophizing to make you barf, and supposedly adult characters who behave like overgrown teens. So Amit is comfortable enough around his buddies to break wind when his tummy rumbles. But when the same gag is repeated thrice over, you know they’ve run out of ideas.

    There’s an excruciatingly stupid subplot involving Amit and his friends hacking into the software of a dance reality show in order to sabotage the producer’s job, because he’s dating Amit’s ex. Inevitably, Amit’s meddling with the software will have a consequence on Samara, who’s got her hopes pinned on winning that show.

    Neither of the two is having much luck at home either. Amit’s mother (Rati Agnihotri) is desperate for her son to get married, and takes it upon herself to fix him up with a prospective bride. Samara, for her part, the illegitimate daughter of a married big shot, is keen to reconnect with her estranged daddy, while caring for her alcoholic mum (Lilette Dubey). You see, there’s a lot going on here, and yet, nothing that drives the film’s plot. There’s no conceivable reason why we in the audience, should care for these two to end up together. Other than the fact that they’re both not particularly likeable people and hence probably deserve to be together.

    Abhay Deol has very little to work with, and not enough charisma to salvage this flawed material. He’s pretty good in one scene in which he shocks a roomful of guests by belting out a rebellious track on his guitar, dressed only in his boxers and a vest. Preeti Desai, his real-life girlfriend, is easy on the eye, but has a long way to go in the histrionics department. Her dancing skills too, are average at best…unforgivable in a film that relies so heavily on them.

    One By Two tries hard to break the mold of Bollywood rom-coms, but seldom offers scenarios or characters that are refreshingly original. A feisty young girl whom Amit dates on his mother’s insistence steals the film in only a couple of scenes. She’s got what the film badly needed – oodles of spunk.

    I’m going with one-and-a-half out of five for Devika Bhagat’s One By Two. To quote a song from this very film: I’m just pakaoed!

    Link/

  3. sputnik 10 years ago

    One By Two First Day Business Details
    Saturday 01 February 2014 15.00 IST
    Box Office India Trade Network
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    One By Two had a poor first day collecting in the 50 lakhs nett range. The film fared poorly in all circuits with Delhi city and Punjab area recording best collections. Below are the first day figures from some circuits..

    Mumbai – 15,00,000

    Delhi/UP – 13,00,000

    East Punjab – 8,00,000

    Rajasthan – 3,00,000

    Mysore – 4,00,000

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