Cast: Anushka Sharma, Ranveer Singh, Dipannita Sharma, Parineeti Chopra and Aditi Sharma
Director: Maneesh Sharma
Rating: 2.5/5
Disappointing con act but Anushka somewhat saves this sinking boat...
By Priyanka Ketkar
He will charm you; he will take away your heart and finally run away with your money... You can't catch him and neither can you hurt him back... And no, I am not talking about Don ("Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi, na mumkin hai..."). This charming con man is different; he has his own game and he plays it very well. But what happens when the conman himself is being conned? What happens when his hearts starts ruling his head? What happens when the ghosts (the ladies he conned) from his past haunt his present? What happens when there are Ladies vs Ricky Bahl?
Sunny Singh, Deven Shah and Iqbal Khan...three names and three different scandals but just one person; Yes, it is none other than Ricky Bahl (Ranveer Singh). He is smooth like butter and will pull the mattress from under you like a feather and you won't even notice until he is gone. Many women have fallen prey to this conman's charms... 30 women to be precise.
Dimple Chaddha (Parineeti Chopra) is bubbly, chubby, pretty college going girl...well all these adjectives are absolutely unimportant; what matters is that she is RICH. Period. Silly girl Dimple falls for this hunk. Well, he cons her and off he goes. Heartbroken Dimple wants her revenge but this won't bring back her Sunny to her...right?
Victim 2. Raina Parulekar (Dipannita Sharma) is an extremely successful corporate woman. Impressed with her work and confident about her capability, her boss asks her to find an M. F. Hussain painting within 72 hours. But M.F. Hussain is expensive and it will cost her more than just money...it will cost her, her job. All thanks to Deven Shah.
Victim 3. Saira Rashid (Aditi Sharma), a young, honest and independent widower who is- a.) Damsel in Distress and b.) RICH. This is enough for Iqbal Khan to charm this pretty lady and abscond with her money.
Thanks to the media coverage of Raina's painting scandal, these three women come to realize that they have been conned by the same person (How they figured that out and why the remaining 27 ladies don't realize it, remains a mystery). They decide to con this conman sending their own weapon- the fataka chokri- Ishika Desai urf Ishika Patel (Anushka Sharma). Beautiful Ishika is well, B-E-A-U-T-iful and RICH and it doesn't take too long for Vikram to weave his web around her. Only this time, his trap has woven a web as well. Gradually, Vikram and Ishika start going beyond the conning and start falling for each other. When love knocks the door, will the Love triumph or will the money rule the matters of heart as well? Will the three ladies get their money and their revenge?
The movie is extremely predictable beyond any doubt. The first half is very boring and only when Anushka Sharma enters does the movie take-off a bit. She oozes out energy and cheer and livens up the screen. Suddenly after the interval the movie starts making sense but again towards the end, it becomes sappy and melodramatic slowing down its pace. Ranveer Singh is good and impressive. He hasn't shown much improvement but he at least hasn't under-performed. Dipannita Sharma, Aditi Sharma and Parineeti Chopra have done their parts well. Parineeti Chopra is especially impressive as the irritating Punjab-di-kudi (from Delhi).
The concept of this movie is apparently a slight rip-off of the Hollywood movie- John Tucker must die, only difference being John Tucker is shown as a playboy while Ricky Bahl is purely a conman.
Except Anushka Sharma's solo song- Jazba, none of the songs are exceptional or striking. In fact the first song in the movie with Ranveer Singh and Parineeti Chopra is so long and boring that it spoils your mood to watch the film any further. You want it to get over fast and just when it does get over, another song begins within a few minutes. There is also SRK's dialogue from Baazigar as Ricky's ringtone- apparently the only clue to catch this conman (doesn't make sense to me, but well, whatever!).
The movie has been shot very well and the superb performances help sail this sinking ship.
Ladies vs Ricky Bahl is not a completely boring movie but it isn't even that entertaining. Director Maneesh Sharma promises you a super-hit but he simply cons you.