Hai Jawaani Toh Ishq Hona Hai First Half Review
David Dhawan's Hai Jawaani Toh Ishq Hona Hai begins with a marital conflict between Varun (Jass) and Mrunal Thakur (Bani). While Varun wants to start a family, Bani is focused on her career and isn't ready for motherhood. Their constant disagreements over having a child push them to seek help from a marriage counsellor.
The film then moves into a flashback, showing how the two fell in love and got married. However, their differences become too big to ignore, leading Bani to file for divorce. The court asks the couple to stay apart for six months before making a final decision.
A month later, Varun meets Preet (Pooja Hegde) in Rishikesh after saving her life. Two months later, they cross paths again in the UK and gradually fall for each other. Just when things seem to be moving forward, Bani arrives and reveals that she is pregnant with Jass' child. As if that wasn't enough, Preet also tells him that she is carrying his baby. That's where the confusion and chaos begins in Jass' life.
Varun and Mrunal share decent chemistry and look good together on screen. Varun gets plenty of moments to shine and spends a large part of the film showing off his impressive physique. He handles both comedy and emotional scenes reasonably well. Mrunal, however, is just average in the first half and struggles to make the comic moments land. The same goes for Pooja, who doesn't seem entirely comfortable in a comedy-driven role.
The supporting cast, including Maniesh Paul, Jimmy Shergill, Manoj Pahwa and Rajpal Yadav, delivers better performances and adds some much-needed energy whenever they appear.
The music is pleasant and brings a touch of nostalgia with references to songs from David Dhawan's older films. However, the film seems to insert a song every 10 minutes, and many of them feel unnecessary.
The biggest issue with the first half is its pacing. The story takes too long to get going, and several scenes feel stretched. While the film aims for laughs, most of the jokes fail to create the desired impact. Despite a few entertaining moments and a decent supporting cast, the first half remains slow, predictable and often boring.
The film needs a much stronger second half to make up for its sluggish and underwhelming start.
