'Don't Be Shy' review: All gloss, no soul
What's the story
Amazon Prime Video's new Hindi film, Don't Be Shy, is helmed by Sreeti Mukerji in her directorial debut. Produced by Alia Bhatt and Shaheen Bhatt, it features newcomers Aarushi Bajaj, Ansh Duggal, Bianca Arora, and Piyush Khati. Designed as a coming-of-age drama but ultimately a severely muddled mess, Don't Be Shy is a chore to sit through.
Plot
Explores a college student's complex life
The film follows the complicated life of Shyamili "Shy" Das (Bajaj), who is in a relationship with a much wealthier man, Mayank (Khati).
However, she also harbors feelings for her childhood friend, Dhruv (Duggal).
Suddenly, Mayank breaks up with Shy, leaving her heartbroken, and her perfectly curated life begins to fall apart.
Can Shy bounce back before it's too late?
#1
The film has nothing to say
At two hours and 29 minutes, Don't Be Shy is needlessly, frustratingly long.
Random, unrelated scenes are stitched together into the screenplay, and the film is constantly stuck in a rut.
It's the kind of movie where everyone has a predictable, cute, sweet, happy ending.
This overwhelming saccharine tone runs throughout, and the film keeps getting progressively worse.
#2
Lavish production, but where's the writing?
Don't Be Shy is drenched in so much sheen that you can almost touch it through the screen.
At one point, Shy tells us, "Ye koi Karan Johar ki picture nahi hai," but the film's all-style, no-substance approach makes it feel exactly like a Dharma project.
Intense, dramatic scenes border on comical because they have no real tension, and the characters are completely unrelatable.
#3
Painfully predictable and replete with clichés
The leads speak Hindi awkwardly, and you grow restless, wanting them to talk normally for once!
The overachieving girlfriend, the handsome athletic boyfriend, the college "rockstar" stud—you name it, and the movie offers that cliché.
The film wants to be consistently "cool" and speak to the youth, but how can that happen when it has no identity of its own?
#4
Anurag Basu, Kunaal Roy Kapur impress in short roles
Director Anurag Basu has an extended special appearance as Joy Das, Shy's father.
He's a complete hoot in his humorous yet relatable avatar and gives the movie some of its few watchable scenes.
Kunaal Roy Kapur, who plays Shy's teacher, Mr Q, is another actor who makes the most of his scenes and comes out unscathed from this mess.
Verdict
Run away from Shy Das; 1/5 stars
Shy frequently breaks the fourth wall and delivers long sermons, which make this tedious film even worse.
There might be a good story buried here somewhere, but Mukerji does not probe her characters enough.
An insipid, annoyingly bad project, Don't Be Shy is so preoccupied with the flashy aesthetics that it forgets to build a story.
1/5 stars.