Critics rating: 1.5 Stars

Cast:  Kangana Ranaut,  Imran Khan 

Direction: Nikhil Advani

Produced: Siddharth Roy Kapur, Nikhil Advani

Written: Anshul Singhal 

Genre: Romance

Duration: 135 Mins

This isn’t quite (500) Days of Summer. Comparing it to the Marc Webb film would be a compliment. Both issue warnings to the romcom-loving audiences that this is not a love story except that Katti Batti takes the premise of a moping hero, recovering in the aftermath of a sudden break-up and gives it a Bollywood melodramatic spin a la Kal Ho Na Ho.

Maddy/Madhav Kabra (Imran Khan) studies architecture in Ahmedabad where he falls in love with fellow student Payal (Kangana Ranaut), who is armed with manic pixie girl charms, origami birds, a lightning bolt tattoo and tinklinganklets, essential for emphasising her name. For Madhav, it is love at first sight and rather ridiculously so.

The film is full of instances in their courtship and banter with friends, marked by infantile behaviour, kickstarted by Payal saying she wants to keep their relationship casual and Maddy accusing her of rejecting true love. The very next instant, he chases after her to agree. Okay, then… (Cue stop-motion relationship song like Mujhse Fraandship Karoge’s Har Sans Mein).

To cover up for Maddy’s drunken behaviour, his friends perform death-defying stunts and even improvise a Devdas meets LoC costumed skit before his parents to keep up the subterfuge (“Is this their version of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron?” asks a friend, alluding to the film’s most famous sequence). It all seems unnecessary since Maddy’s parents appear to be perfectly reasonable, easy-going folks.

After five years of squabbling and making up, they split, abruptly and unpleasantly. Maddy is convinced that she still loves him and her constant evasive measures won’t work with him. Her friends stymie his efforts in getting touch with her. His friend tries to hook him up with his blatantly sexy boss Devika, whose idea of showing concern for Maddy is to press his palm against her bosom to feel her heart. Maddy’s sister is really of no help other than being a persistent, unsupportive nag. If they intended for him to forget about Payal, they were going about it wrong.

The problem with most of these portions from the first half was that they were conducted not just with a child-like energy but also a juvenile sensibility. Maddy is upset one moment and chasing his meddling friend down the next, complete with an annoying comedy track playing in the background.

The only bright spot in the second half is when Maddy meets the members of the FOSLA (Frustrated One-Sided Lovers Association) band, led by Roger (Suhas Ahuja), who help him search for Payal. They seem a fun gang who travel through barren land in The Mystery Machine sort of a vehicle and need their own spin-off story.

Katti Batti falls into a repetitive rut, with the hero being a little obsessive and the heroine too erratic to really be relatable. No matter what the resolution, you are too bored to care. Despite the tremendous potential and a charming lead pair, this on-off relationship lacks the spark that will make you want to stay.