Half Girlfriend is a romantic movie based on Indian author Chetan Bhagat’s novel of the same title.

The film stars Arjun Kapoor, who plays the role of a village boy who falls for rich girl, played by Shraddha Kapoor, who made waves in her box office hit movie Aashiqui 2.

The new film, now in theaters, also marks the second time Arjun stars in a movie based on a Bhagat novel. The first one, 2 States, which was directed by Karan Johar, was a box office hit.

Half Girlfriend starts with Madhav Jha (Arjun) on his way somewhere inside a train. He looks at a video on his cell phone and reminisces about his past. And the film flashes backs to the first moment he meets rich student Riya Somani (Shraddha).

The two young lovers first meet when he has just finished his interview with a board where he has applied for a scholarship through his basketball skills.

After the interview, he goes to the field where he sees Riya playing basketball. He advises Riya in broken English on a few tactics and the latter improves, scores and wins for her team.

Soon, the two become friends. Madhav starts following her in school to get a glimpse of her before he finally has the guts to speak to her.

The two get closer but Riya declines to scale up their relationship status when Madhav asks her to become his girlfriend, willing only to be his “half girlfriend.”

While the film deals with language barriers between the two lovers, it also touches on the “grey” area of today’s relationship — Madhav tries to convince Riya to be his girlfriend but she only agrees to be his “half girlfriend”, a term that is said to be a uniquely Indian phenomenon where boys and girls are not clear about their relationship status.

Life takes its twists and turns when Riya tells Madhav she is engaged to a boy chosen by her parents and invites him to her wedding.

The story does not end there as the two meet again two years later but director Mohit Suri’s direction of the film half-way through is annoyingly slow.

Moreover, one cannot feel the romance between Riya and Madhav, who just keep on looking at each other. There is hardly a spark between them.

In another scene, Riya dressed up in an expensive branded outfit gets wet in the rain. Although her sexy outfits throughout the film are must-see, realistically, who does that?

Arjun Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor’s interpretation of their characters is worth watching in the second half of the film only – when Riya and Madhav meet after a couple of years. Only then does the storytelling begin comprehensively.

The film’s editing needs to be improved. It has become a habit in the Indian film industry to go back and forth to the past, confusing viewers in the process. A better form of editing would have improved the film.

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Half Girlfriend
(Balaji Motion Pictures, 135 minutes)

Directed by Mohit Suri
Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Rhea Chakraborty

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