Mere Baar Pehle Aap

Overall, Mere Baar Pehle Aap could have been so much better. The length is a major problem; also it could have been lot funnier. A disappointing movie from Priyadarshan.

Mere Baap Pehle Aap directed by Priyadarshan boasts of a strong star cast. Akshaye Khanna, Paresh Rawal, Genelia D'Souza, Om Puri, Rajpal Yadav. All actors with great comic timing, you expect a laugh riot. Story before the review.Janaradhan Wishvanbhar Rane (Paresh Rawal) a widower has spent his life bringing up his two kids Chirag (Manoj Joshi) and Gaurav (Akshaye Khanna). Janaradhan has done everything for his kids to bring them up in the best possible manner, ever since they were toddlers. Now when the duo has grown up, Gaurav takes up the responsibility of his father. They both manage the household chores and their business to the best of their abilities. Though he is the younger son, he treats his father like his son. Gaurav is on guard with the vigilance of a disciplined parent. He shouts, threatens, and fights - even locks up his father occasionally so that his prankster best friend Madhav Mathur (Om Puri) who is a divorcee, desperate to get married, does not spoil him. Madhav and Janaradhan who are always in search of a bride for Madhav forever land up in trouble and every time Gaurav has to bail them out and face the embarrassment. Gaurav is busy managing his business starts getting prank calls from a girl who turns out to be his old college friend Sheekha Kapoor (Genelia D'souza). Sheekha is staying with her guardian Anuradha (Shobana) who is also Janardhan's first love. Gaurav and Sheekha notice changes in the behavior of Janaradhan and Anuradha when they come face to face after many years. They come to know about their past relationship. Now Gaurav wants his father to get married to his lost love.The first hour and fifteen minutes of Mere Baap Pehle Aap is funny, rest of the movie moves at a lethargic pace, never gains momentum and reaches a stage were in it gets quite unbearable to sit through. The problem with MBPA is the script and the editing. The movie is about 3 hours long and most of the post-interval portions could have been easily edited off for better impact. The trailers gave an impression that the movie is a complete laugh riot, but the second half concentrates on the love angle between Paresh Rawal and Shobhana, which isn't funny but dramatic and drags unnecessarily. The music too is yet another weak link, except for the title track, the music is bad. The camera work is good.Genelia D'Souza stands out with a refreshing performance. She's cute, adorable and sweet throughout and expresses well through her eyes. Paresh Rawal in a lead role handles his character well. Akshaye Khanna looks old in parts; his chemistry with Paresh Rawal is good. Shobana has a rather small role and very few dialogues. Rajpal Yadav is wasted, wish he had more scenes. Om Puri is good. Naseeruddin Shah appears for 10 minutes and he does well.