Kareena Kapoor Khan and Preity Zinta make cameos in this week’s Saif Ali Khan starrer ‘Happy Ending’; both play his ex-flames, the latter getting a lot more screen time and reminding us of the crackling on-screen chemistry in ‘Salaam Namaste’. It’s a rom-com or a romedy as they call it in the movie and Saif plays the confused cool brat which he has mostly played apart from proving his versatility as an actor (just don’t remember the trauma 
called ‘Humshakals’). The genre is predictable and perhaps directors Raj and DK (‘Go Goa Gone’, ‘Shor in the City’) knew how the movie would shape up so, they act a little clever and tell us at the very onset how every romantic comedy is similar.
Saif is Yudi, a carefree writer in Los Angeles still cashing in on the success of the first and last book he wrote five and a half years back. Life is all about having fun and dating girls for him. There is just one slight problem! He is commitment-phobic. When Yudi is not with girls, he either has his married and bored best friend (Ranvir Shorey) partying with him or his alter ego played by himself (Yogi) pops up to give him some gyaan. While he is trying hard to break up with his obsessive stalking girl-friend (Kalki Koechlin), he realizes he is broke and has no money. His book has dropped off the shelves and the bank has seized his BMW due to repayment problems. Yudi gets a chance to pen a movie script for a loud Bollywood superstar Armaan (Govinda) eager to reinvent himself. But he has to write a romantic comedy and he doesn’t have any idea how to go about it. Enter Aanchal (Ileana D’Cruz), the new writing sensation who won’t give into commitment like Yudi. Do opposites always attract or can alikes be the 
perfect compatible couple is what this romedy is about.
Directors Raj and DK keep it simple and use all the trappings of the genre. The good part- there isn’t melodrama. But where they succeeded with the zany humour in ‘Go Goa Gone’, fun feels a little stretched here. There is nothing you haven’t seen before or nothing you might not have guessed coming. Predictability isn’t the only problem here. The love story just doesn’t have the ‘love’ in it, blame it on the mediocre chemistry between Saif and Ileana or probably the absence of a more prominent female lead. Saif and Preity sparkle in just a few minutes together and you prefer watching them together. ‘Happy Ending’ could have easily been shorter by twenty minutes. What works well are a few funny scenes and the cool way it is directed. Music by Sachin-Jigar is peppy and in sync with the mood. ‘Haseena Tu Kameena Main’ and ‘G Phaad Ke’ are my picks.
Saif Ali Khan plays what he is most comfortable at and he still does it well barring the fact that he has begun looking his age and these roles may not 
suit him soon. I’m a fan myself; this is something he has done before and at best, this time he is just okay (like in ‘Cocktail’) and not great like he was in other rom-coms ‘Love Aaj Kal’, ‘Salaam Namaste’, ‘Hum Tum’ or ‘Kal Ho Naa Ho’ for that matter. Ileana D’Cruz is likeable enough and can emote for sure but misses the needed screen presence for a fun movie like this. Govinda is again underutilized like in last week’s ‘Kill Dil’ but yet again, makes a mark in the few scenes. Watch him groove in ‘G Phaad Ke’ and you know nobody really enjoys dance like he does. Ranvir Shorey is hilarious and his comic timing is perfect for the role. Kalki Koechlin is good. Preity Zinta in an extended cameo is a pleasure to watch and she makes the most of it. Kareena Kapoor Khan is in a cameo too and whoa… she is still gorgeous (I’m a fan!).
Watch it or not: Saif fans won’t be disappointed. Watch it if you like rom-coms but don’t expect much.
At the Box-Office: Won’t appeal to the masses. Saif isn’t really a crowd-puller. The target audience is the youth and they should enjoy it. Strictly Average!
My Verdict
2.5
With a mediocre climax like that, the ending wasn’t too happy but I’m not complaining. Old wine in a new bottle... the wine could have tasted a little better than Cocktail but alas!
