Deewana Mastana (1997)

The older I get, the more I despise David Dhawan and his brand of cinema. There is something so deeply cringe about that man, it makes me feel weird to know that once upon a time I used to find his movies entertaining. But well, we grow up I guess. Thank God I did, at least in this context.

To begin with, my problem with this movie mostly lies with how under-utilised Juhi Chawla was. This is her forté- a good old 90s rom-com with heavy emphasis on the comedy; and yet, we barely get to see her doing anything fun. Her outfits were all amazing, but apart from that, nothing. On top of it, the rest of the movie was quite underwhelming. Anil Kapoor and Govinda did not have any sort of comic chemistry whatsoever, and their scenes and characters were so sloppily written that it wasn't even hilarious in the wrong way- it was just boring. Thank God for Johnny Lever though, he managed to slip in a few laughs here and there. True king. Rest everything, progressively pathetic.

I don't even want to talk about the mental health discourse that this film indulges in. Zero nuance, zero subtlety, zero interactions with an actual professional. That's the only way to sum it up, I'm afraid. Juhi deserved better. 

In conclusion, watch it only if you need some outfit inspiration. Or if you're a sad little creature like me who misses fashion and wants to feast her eyes on something as beautiful as Juhi's clothes. Otherwise, watch something else.