Masand: 'Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge' is enjoyable

Cast: Saqib Saleem, Saba Azad, Nishant Dahiya, Tara D'Souza

Director: Nupur Ashtana

'Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge' is a terrible title for a film that's not so bad. Set on a swanky campus (although we never once see students in class or poring over books), this rom-com is funny, and corny even, but thankfully never makes the mistake of turning sappy or sentimental. Director Nupur Asthana shrewdly taps into the youth's obsession with online interaction, and creates a premise around the freedom and anonymity that the Internet offers.

'Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge', is a romantic comedy set against the backdrop of social networking site 'Facebook'.
'Liking' someone on Facebook is a lot easier than having to deal with them in real life. And when you can't make it on your own, the best thing to do is to fake it. The content is from the film's official website.
Tara D'Souza is a former model who has now made baby steps in to Bollywood.
She was a part of the Kingfisher Calendar bikini shoot contest as well as 'Force India'.
In MFK if Rahul the rockstar has got the voice and the looks, Vishal, the writer has the brains.
Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge may just be India's first 'Facebook' movie.
During her college days she has been a part of the elite Kingfisher bevy of models.
This Hyderabadi girl sure made it big when the Yash Chopra banner signed her in for 'Mere Brother Ki Dulhan'.
Malvika, the fashion design student and biker chick can get heads turning with just her looks.
Vishal becomes Rahul and Preity becomes Malvika by taking their identities online and they start fraaandshipping each other.
Tara was seen in Aditya Chopra's youth flick.
Tara made her debut in the movie - 'The Angrez'. She played the role of Sheetal.
Tara plays the role of Malvika in the movie 'Mujhse Fraaanship Karoge'.
Preity, the photographer, can say a million things with her pretty pictures.
What Vishal and Preity can't do, is spell it out to Malvika and Rahul that they like them.
They chat, 'like', tag and LOL together and do a great job of pretending to be someone else.
But, the question remains, how long can you fake true love?
Rahul loves Malvika. And Malvika loves Rahul.
But Rahul is not Rahul. Rahul is Vishal. And Vishal loves Malvika too. But Malvika is not Malvika either. Malvika is Preity. And Preity loves Rahul. But Preity hates Vishal. And Vishal hates Preity. Complicate much?
She plays a glamorous role in MFK that suits her model image.
In 'Mere Brother Ki Dulhan' the former Kingfisher model was seen romancing Ali Zafar.
The team behind 'Mujhse Fraaanship Karoge' had heavily used Facebook to promote their film, even going ahead to make user profiles for the characters.
On Facebook, the pressure to befriend the hottest and the coolest is so high that sometimes it pushes people to fake credentials.
The film revolves around the lives of Tara D'Souza, Saqib Saleem, Saba Azad, Nishant Dahiya who each have their unique attributes.
The movie is about how teenagers use the internet for and end up in complicated and hilarious relationships.

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Vishal has the hots for Malvika, but he doesn't have the confidence to tell her. He goes online, pretends to be his cool musician buddy Rahul on Facebook, and strikes up a friendship with Malvika. Preity, who thinks Rahul is cute, hides behind the identity of her friend Malvika on Facebook, and responds to Vishal's overtures, thinking she's befriended Rahul. As it turns out, in the real world, Vishal and Preity can't stand the sight of each other.

The plot isn't particularly original or inventive, but the film moves briskly, and has a consistent tone. It's centered on a bunch of silly twentysomething-year-olds, and the good thing is they behave and talk like silly twentysomething-year-olds. At one point, Vishal asks Preity if she has a boyfriend, to which she replies in the negative. "Lesbian?" he enquires mischievously.

The film works because it gets what it's like to be young and carefree, and because the director doesn't manipulate us with unnecessary emotional BS. Characters recover from heartbreak and betrayal without too much of a fuss, and even a Gossip Girl-style MMS scandal blows over pretty quickly.

There's a cheesy subplot in which our leads must interview and photograph married couples who reminisce about the early days of their romance; mercifully these portions are brief. The film has a peppy score by Raghu Dixit, but most of the songs feel interchangeable because the situations are repetitive. Of the cast, Saqib Saleem grabs your attention with his feisty performance as the quick-witted Vishal, and Saba Azad has a likeable presence as Preity. They carry the film's smart lines without any hiccups.

I'm going with three out of five for director Nupur Asthana's Mujhse Fraaandhship Karoge. Like the demographic it represents, the film makes for good company, and isn't meant to be taken too seriously. An enjoyable one-time watch.

Rating: 3 / 5

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Winners:

Yogesh Kumar, Hyderabad

Pragna, Jamnagar

Rajesh Kumar Sarangi, Bhubaneswar

Piyush Bhageria, Kolhapur