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Oye Bubbly, Oye Bubbly, Be My Lover Bubbly... goes the new tagline of the favorite soft drink this season with a lot of fizz as even Big B does a cameo on small screen in one of the ads shot on the theme. But, when it comes to big screen the fizz of the Babli meets Bunty who is trying it very hard to make a name for himself as a solo hero in the Hindi film industry. 'Bunty Aur Babli' also makes the revival of the trend that started way back in 1942 with the first ever super duper hit film 'Kismat' where the lead hero is presented with gray shades.

Dozens of films have been made after that where the hero becomes an anti-hero and makes fool of others to survive in society. He may not be a hard-core criminal but he does not believe in system. Amitabh Bachchan flourished in seventies and eighties doing many of these kinds of roles right from 'Hera Pheri', to 'Mr. Natwarlal', 'Suhag', 'Sholay', and 'Shaan', and lately in 'Bade Miyan Chhote Miyan' in late 90's. The underdog angle presented with the charisma of Big B worked most of the times and even Govinda made it almost to the top by repeating it in films like 'Aankhen', 'Coolie No. 1', 'Hero No. 1' and several others.

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So, Natwarlals of Bollywood return with 'Bunty Aur Babli' on screen with Rani reviving the trend of women cheaters a la Hema Malini in 'Seeta Aur Geeta' and Sridevi in 'Chalbaaz'. The film comes at a time when all schools and colleges are closed for summer vacation and there is no competition from any other film during the week. In short, 'Bunty Aur Babli' has all the equations in its favor to hit the bull's eyes, but it has missed the bus. Why? Read on.

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Those who have seen all the films of Abhishek Bachchan so far will be able to make out one common thing that he chooses the films where he is portrayed a commoner from a small town. Be it 'Refugee', 'Tera Jadoo Chal Gaya', 'Bus Itna Sa Khwab Hai' or 'Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost'. All these films are Abhishek's solo hero films and all have been flops. Abhishek plays Rakesh, a commoner from Fursatganj, again from a small town who wants to make it big, either by hook or by crook.

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As Rakesh cannot lift every one by hook, so he chooses the second path. He practises all kinds of odd tricks to take the vengeance on the system. Boney meets his Cloyed this time as Vimmi prefers to be known as Babli as she has taken a path that her family would not have allowed. Inspired from 1937 classic, 'Boney And Cloyed', 'Bunty Aur Babli' also has Amitabh Bachchan playing a cop for the sake of survival of his son. If memories of 'Ranvir' and 'Sarkar' are still afresh; both films announced to be the first film of the two Bachchans together.

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However, 'Bunty Aur Babli' is the first official and the released one having both the Bachchans on one reel. Big B is DCP Dashrath Singh and chases these smart young ones who flee from one palace to another after cheating people. (And, if you thought you would also get to see that famous Rap song of Big B in the film, better recall his recent interviews declaring that it was just a marketing gimmick).

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The story of the film is the main villain of it. It remains stagnant at the very point where it starts from the word go. To establish the character of Rakesh, Abhishek Bachchan tries too hard and director Shaad 'Saathiya' Ali wasts too much of footage on him. Shaad says he liked Abhishek's work in 'Yuva', but he is no Manirathnam who will make Abhishek look real in the role of a Lallu. 'Bunty Aur Babli' falls flat on the story front and also at screenplay. Sometime it looks like Abhishek and Rani are freaking out in the ravines of Bithoor and other places of Uttar Pradesh, and the camera is just capturing their voyage. It was Yashraj Films' 'Dhoom' that gave Abhishek's career a big boost last season but its latest didn't help him.

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'Bunty Aur Babli' also suffers from the euphoria created over nothing. The film was over promoted across the media and the biggest mistake was to make Abhishek and Rani sit as news anchors on a new channel. Viewers don't want to see their idols deglamourised. Watching Abhishek and Rani wearing spectacles and looking so bad at reading news also plays a deterrent for many viewers. No doubt, the film's opening is excellent, but a bad movie's good opening is always more harmful as it creates the worst mouth publicity. The film is very high in technical departments. Abhik Mukhopadhyay and Anuj Mathur deserve applause for their work as cinematographer and sound designer, respectively.

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Even Shankar Ehsaan and Loy did their best and gave more than a hit number, but all these efforts fail as there is no soul (novel story) in the film. Every filmmaker needs to note that Abhishek Bachchan is still a risky asset as a solo hero. Even the plethora of senior artistes right from Raj Babbar, Punit Issar, Kiran Joneja Sippy and Rameshwari to Prem Chopra and Pratima Kazmi do their best to lift the tempo of film, but the end result is not as satisfying as was expected to be. As a producer Aditya Chopra may move ahead with another film but as an actor it will be very hard for Abhishek to move on as a solo hero any more!