Plan A Plan B is a quintessential movie of how opposites attract. Imagine the mayhem when a Matchmaker and a Divorce lawyer are forced to co-exist in a shared office environment where their offices are next to one another. As smart business minded individuals Plan A Plan B is about these eccentric individuals journeys to combine synergies on the professional and personal front.
Nirali Vora enacted by Tamannah Bhatia plays a thoroughly professional psychologist. She assists her outgoing and inquisitive mother Kiran Vora played by the exuberant Poonam Dhillon in the matchmaking business. As a typical Punjabi mother her ultimate wish is to ensure her single daughter gets married. Her daughter unfortunately seems fixated on encouraging her clients to get married rather than focusing on herself. Nirali is suddenly left single and heartbroken after her fiancé, Varun passes away from a heart attack on an overseas holiday.
Varun was her childhood sweetheart who had been with her since school days so dealing with his sudden death results in extreme changes to her personality. To deal with her emotional baggage she channelizes her energy towards her work by spreading positivity among her clients especially towards those who have problems in their relationships. At the same time, she drops her girl next door image to become a mean and outspoken person who does not mince her words when forced into an uncomfortable position with her mother’s friends or pesky individuals in the office. Her best friend played by Kusha Kapila and her son’s repeated attempts to counsel her to begin seeing other men all end up in vain as she refuses to move on.
Kaustubh Chogule (Kosty) played by Ritiesh Deshmukh is a divorce lawyer by profession and is perfectly capable of getting unhappy couples divorced but is unable to get through his own divorce. He has spent 4 years separated from his wife Runjhun but does not want to divorce her because he has ego issues related to the fact that she cheated on him. He feels that her life will be made easier if he simply divorces her and she will not feel guilty for what he has gone through. The reason however for her cheating is her inability to deal with his obsessive compulsion disorder (OCD) which developed into a full-blown habit after they got married. He also lacks flexibility in his work which led to him fighting with his ex-bosses and walking out one of the top law firms in Mumbai. This created further rifts between the couple. 4 years on, he is still unable to move on and spends his evenings clubbing with his best friend Girish and his wife Preeti who are unable to tell him off without offending him.
Both unique individuals meet in a shared work environment when Nirali moves into the office after her mother retires and hands over her matchmaking business along with the shared office space to her daughter. She is utterly put off when she sees that Kosty’s office is right next to hers and feels that a divorce lawyer’s office will dampen her business endeavors. The animosity develops into a full-fledged rivalry as both parties are blessed with heavy sarcastic bones. Kosty chides Nirali for eating Achaar in the shared office space while Nirali makes no effort to avoid this practice.
It is not long before both parties’ friends and family members realize that both can help one another through their varied idiosyncrasies. Nirali meets Runjhun in the office as she turns up looking for Kosty and gets to know his full history. On a night out with her best friend, drunk Nirali leaves no stone unturned in insulting Kosty over the phone when she drunk calls him in front of Girish and Preeti telling him that he’s the worst divorce lawyer because his feelings are not allowing him to let go of Runjhun. After the drunk talk incident, Kosty chances upon Nirali’s mother Kiran in the office. For her 60th birthday, Kiran plans a dance session with her friends and Kosty volunteers to teach them steps. Kosty and Nirali decide to call a truce for the sake of her mother’s birthday. Unfortunately, the movie loses pace and interest at this point as the love story is not handled properly.
The change in temperament from hate to love could have been handled in a better manner and looked rather abrupt as though it had been forced on both characters. The worst happens when Kosty heads to Kolkatta to divorce Runjhun after hooking up with Nirali. He ghosts Nirali instead of having an upfront conversation with her about what he’s planning. The ending is funny in sequences but is again unclear especially when Runjhun walks in right after Kosty and Nirali’s spectacular dance sequence in the birthday function. Nirali assumes Runjhun is present as she intends on uniting with Kosty and becomes disappointed. The confusion is quite a dampener.
I herewith grant this movie a 6/10 review due to a pathetic ending. Movies which begin on a slapstick and witty note need to maintain comedy levels throughout the movie and cannot afford to slacken off. Leaving audiences hanging towards the end is a complete No Go. Unfortunately, this love story was a let down as the “chemistry” looked forced. Ritiesh Deshmukh has done most of his romantic movies in the past with his wife Genelia D’Souza and excelled in those roles. It looks like he needs to stick to doing romantic movies only with his Darling wife. The movie excels on the professional front with perfect synergies being developed between both businesses in complete harmony instead of mayhem.
