The film might have been an attempt to create a good old-fashioned love triangle, but the events leading up to it feel unnecessarily contrived, and the plot (by Nitesh Tiwari and Shreyas Jain) wafer-thin and stretched. The so-called conflict could have been resolved if the leads had an honest two-minute conversation.

Bareilly Ki Barfi is a character-driven as all the characters are pivotal to the plot and backed by substantial writing. The three lead actors drive most of the narrative – Ayushmann’s endearing expressions, Kriti’s livewire presence and Rajkummar’s unpredictable dialogue delivery provide the perfect ingrediendts for a sweet rom com that has its share of masala.

Without giving away much more, I’ll say that ambitious plot machinations late in the film mean that neither Pritam’s nor Bitti’s behavior makes much sense—until it finally does and it’s too late. Perhaps some viewers will appreciate this trickery. To me it felt like a sacrificing of character at the altar of cleverness.