Dialogue thoda kaccha hai ji!

Film: Dil To Baccha Hai Ji
Direction: Madhur Bhandarkar
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Omi Vaidya, Shahzan Padamsee, Shraddha Das, Tisca Chopra, Shruti Hassan
Rating: 3/5

Thankfully, Madhur Bhandarkar spares us his excesses with jokes on sex and a bunch of hamming homosexuals (well, almost) this time. And you can't complain against his experiment with a new genre, for he does a fairly decent job despite some total clunkers in the film.
The story is about three 'almost single' men Naren (Ajay Devgn), Abhay (Emraan Hashmi) and Milind (Omi Vaidya), and their romantic escapades. While one is infatuated by a girl half his age, another is caught between his concurrent liaisions with a mother and her step-daughter. And the third, well, is the good guy who goes: "Do you know who I am? A viirrrrrrggginn!" even as he struggles to convince a conniving radio jock of his unconditional love for her.
DTBHJ is funny in most parts, but reeks of disappointment in the dialogue department. For a story that relies on slapstick humour more than situational comedy, it is imperative to lace it with good dialogue, and not poorly crafted lines like 'Sir kitne chill out hain na?' and 'Tumhein cheese bahut pasand hai? Tum kitne cheesy lines bolte ho'. Of course, there is the occasional repartee (Munne Ki Maa, chai bana) that steals your attention back. But otherwise, the film is funny largely only due to Omi Vaidya's involuntarily poor accent and Ajay Devgn's delightful shenanigans as he tries to be cool on the dance floor with a bunch of yuppies.
Emraan Hashmi's character is not only cliched but also unbelievable, for it is hard to understand why a philanderer would suddenly lose his heart to a haughty NRI as poker-faced as Shruti Hassan. Yet, Emraan Hashmi surprises you with a reasonably charismatic performance, and he might just be on his way to prove he is finally coming of age as an actor who can 'tell without kissing'.
DTBHJ may not be up there in the list of the craziest movies in recent times, but it will have you afford a laugh or two at the clown acts of the leading men. As for the performances by the leading ladies, well, some other time!