A week and a half ago, I went to see my second Bollywood movie in theaters, "Befikre" (which translates to "Carefree"). The premise of the movie seemed clichéd: Two young people meet each other in Paris and have a casual relationship daring each other to do crazy things such as stripping and dancing in public. Here's the trailer if you wish to watch it:

I judged it to not be my type of movie and had no interest in seeing it. Rom-coms are typically not my thing and the over-the-top characters turned me off a bit. Plus, I always thought France was overrated. However, when my friend invited me to go see it after we submitted a long, arduous final project, I decided to give it a chance. At the very least, it would be a way to celebrate completing the semester.

I went in with little to no expectations. I actually hadn't seen the trailer and knew next to nothing about the plot. I had only watched one music video and was starting to like the song. The ratings I had seen also weren't very high, so I really was prepared for a mediocre time.

The movie opened with a four-minute montage of close-ups of various couples kissing, which already made me grimace. Then, the plot began. The plot line alternated back and forth between the "present," after the two protagonists, Dharam and Shyra, get into a fight, and the "past," showing how the two met and how they fell in a no-strings-attached kind of love. After their fight and break-up, it takes a bit of time, but they become friends, but things get complicated because they actually secretly have feelings for each other (or at least Dharam does).

Without giving any more of the plot, here were my opinions about the movie: First, it was not a total disaster and I actually found it very enjoyable. The characters were a little hard to relate to, but their story was thrilling at times and touching at others. The themes were very "modern," since it was set in Europe, and the dialogue had some fresh humor that actually had me laughing (a difficult accomplishment, to be honest).

However, I found the ending predictable and excessive, ridiculous, and just cheesy. Every time I watch a Bollywood movie with a love story, I pray that the guy doesn't end up with the girl, just to break out of the tiresome Bollywood film trope, and frequently, it seems almost certain that he won't. However, as I've been proven wrong again and again (and again here), in Bollywood, one way or another, the guy always gets the girl, even if it's a non-traditional film.

Another common thing I've noticed in Bollywood movies is that even though it's implied that the two characters are hiding their love for each other, the guy is always the more persistent and eager one. Dharam clearly shows his efforts to compete with Shyra and then confesses his love, but Shyra, on the other hand, seems ready to move on. In fact, her apparent indifference was why I thought maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't end up together. But the ending was honestly just silly and a bit disappointing considering the rest of the movie was actually enjoyable. If the craziness and borderline illegality of the dares the protagonists took were unbelievable, the ending was even more so.

But the main redeeming qualities of the movie? The music and dancing. Rarely have I liked every song on a Bollywood album or really any album, but I loved EVERY SINGLE song from this movie. The music blends elements of French and Middle Eastern music with just a hint of Bollywood (mostly just the fact that the songs are in Hindi), which I find just fascinating. The tracks also contain songs that are just pure, sexy romance to invigorating songs like "Ude Dil Befikre," which just make you want to break out into dance in the middle of the crowd. Dharam and Shyra's dancing is also very good and adds to the music. Check this out (English subtitles provided):

In conclusion, I may have discovered that I'm actually a cheesy hopeless romantic at heart and that I admittedly want to visit Paris. I think a part of me and also everyone wishes to be as carefree and free-spirited as the main characters are and this movie allowed me to vicariously experience that fantasy. I'll finish this with this very flattering compliment for this movie: I didn't regret seeing it.