When talking about LGBTQ community, one film that instantly comes to mind is Vijay Sethupathi’s Super Deluxe which is one of its kind followed by Kanchana which ofcourse was poorly remade as Laxmii. One of the recent web series that made a mark in this territory is His Storyy which revolves around homosexuality. Now Hum Bhi Akele Tum Bhi Akele streaming on Disney+Hotstar deals the issue of LGBTQ from a different perspective.
Story
Veer (Anshuman Jha) runs away from engagement ceremony and Mansi (Zareen Khan) escapes from a potential marriage alliance. They are poles apart but they have one thing in common which is their sexual orientation, as Veer is a gay and Mansi, a lesbian. Chance meeting between them culminate into a road journey from Delhi to McLeodganj in Himachal where Mansi is to unite with her partner Nikki.
Meanwhile, things take several turns where both Mansi and Veer realise that there is something amiss in their lives and they feel insecure and lovelorn. So how do they fill this void in their lives is the remaining story in Hum Bhi Akele Tum Bhi Akele.
Performances
Both Anshuman and Zareen have done complete justice to their characters. But Anushuman is the pick of the two followed by Zareen Khan who also did well as a self-determined girl but found wanting in some scenes. Hence, on the whole, it’s Anshuman who scores more marks than Zareen in the final comparative analysis.
Gurfateh Pirzada as Akshay, Prabhleen Kaur as heart broken Mitali, and Jahnvi Rawat as Nikki are quite impressive in other important characters.
Behind the scenes
Director Harish Vyas has handled a bold and sensitive subject in a perfect manner but the writing is somewhat a big let down and some performances too fail to create the required impact on the viewer. Some unnecessary sequences which drag the film are a bane and they should have been avoided to make the narrative more sharper and effective. Even the ending loaded with heavy melodrama diluted the entire effort of presenting the travails and tribulations of same sex couple in a new perspective.
The redeeming feature is Rabbi Shergill’s number ‘Bulla Ki Jaana’ composed by Oni-Adil which imparts a whiff of fresh air to the narrative while the background score was passable.
Farouk Mistry’s cinematography looks pleasant and the eye-catching visuals captured by him are a treat to watch.
Final Verdict
Though its not a match to all other films of LGBTQ genre, can be watched as it presented an altogether different perspective. Especially, the camaraderie between Veer and Mansi is another positive aspect of Hum Bhi Akele Tum Bhi Akele which was enjoyable. Can be given a try by those who would like to watch some different kind of LGBTQ content but others can stay away without any regrets whatsoever.
