The film starts with Dolly (Soman Kapoor) romancing Panipat lad Sonu Sarawat (Rajkummar Rao). The duo decides to get married and Sonu blackmails his conservative father (Rajesh Sharma) into agreeing to the match. Dolly, her brother Raju (Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub) and father (Manoj Joshi) meet Sonu’s family, who agrees to the match. Dolly then absconds along with her family, after drugging and looting Sonu’s family. It comes to light that Dolly and her family are a gang that dupes prospective well-off grooms. Raju scouts for potential victims and the trap is set by the gang. Dolly entices these men who are willing to go against their families’ wishes to marry her.
Meanwhile, in Delhi, a police officer Robin Singh (Pulkit Samrat) is handed Dolly’s case and he sets out to find her. The next victim to fall prey Dolly’s charms is Manjot (Varun Sharma). Manjot’s mother (Archana Puran Singh) is a controlling woman and, in an instant, rejects Dolly as she is too tall for her son. Snubbed, Dolly charms Manjot and the two of them get married. Again Dolly is on the run after conning the family. How Robin Singh captures Dolly and how Dolly flees forms the crux of the story.
Despite so many aspects of the film working in its favour, Dolly Ki Doli fails to impress, with its loose writing, especially in its second half. The film has its moments and many scenes are pleasing but it also has many sequences that fail to enthrall. Simply put, there is nothing outstanding or impressive about the film.
Although the story is unique (there is no real story here but the basic concept is unique), what works against the film is the transformation of the screenplay from storyboard to the final product. The first half of the film is swift and engaging but post-interval, the screenplay falls flat and the writing makes for a lethargic pace in the second half. The characters and situations have no real justification, making the proceedings weary. Debutant director Abhishek Dogra along with his co-writer Umashankar Singh have paid too much attention to the first half of the film and not enough to the second half. Hence the audience fails to connect with the story.
Dogra with his first outing presents a half-baked story, which sometimes makes you laugh and sometimes makes you frown. He does execute a few scenes with panache but, on the whole, his vision does not excite the imagination. If only there were more comic sequences in the second half, the film would have been a consistent and enjoyable ride. There could have been so many rib-tickling scenes incorporated into the narration but there are too many lost opportunities.
Music and background are all right. Cinematography is okay. Editing by Hemal Kothari is impressive. With a runtime of 100 minutes, the film has a decent first half but nosedives post-interval. Many scenes start and end without segue, hence making the narration jar.
Performance-wise, Sonam Kapoor plays her part with conviction but, after a point, her character seems one-dimensional. Pulkit Samrat suits his part and delivers an impressive performance. Rajkummar Rao does an outstanding job and portrays his character with élan. Varun Sharma does well. Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub is good. Brijendra Kala is hilarious. Archana Puran Singh is impressive. Manoj Joshi fits the bill. Rajesh Sharma plays his part well. Saif Ali Khan in special appearances does justice to his part. The rest of the cast supports adequately.
Verdict: Flop!!!
