Science. Fiction. Technology. Romance. Comedy. Glitz and Glamour. Music and dance. Family drama. Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, Bollywood’s latest release after Fighter, has all these elements, yet lacks all of these at the same time. I was excited to watch Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya since the time I saw its trailer. Neither did the film live up to my expectations nor did it turn out to be an absolute disappointment!
Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, co-directed and co-written by Amit Joshi and Aradhana Sah, was released on 9th February 2024 in cinemas world-wide. Produced under the banners of big production houses such as Maddock Films and Jio Studios, the film stars Shahid Kapoor and Kriti Sanon as the protagonists. What is interesting is that Shahid Kapoor is a human in the film, and Kriti Sanon is a robot; and the film explores how romantically compatible a human and a robot are!
With a run-time of 143.15 minutes, Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya blends romance and comedy with science and fiction in an almost perfectly imperfect manner. The film works, and simultaneously does not work. It is neither the best film nor the worst film; however, it is worth a watch! It is not one of those regular Bollywood rom-coms, but it pretends to be technologically ahead and advanced in the midst of a dramatically modern set-up, till it fails to pretend any further.
Disclaimer: If you haven’t watched the film yet and wish to watch it, tread carefully! I have given away the plot here!
In the film Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, Shahid Kapoor plays the role of Aryan Agnihotri, a Delhi-born Robotics Engineer who works in Mumbai. Kriti Sanon plays the role of a robot called SIFRA, that stands for Super Intelligent Female Robot Automation. Dimple Kapadia plays the role of Urmila Shukla, Aryan’s Aunt, who also happens to be his Boss at work. Aryan works under Urmila Shukla in a Robotics Engineering Company, and SIFRA is Urmila Shukla’s Manager. Aryan and his Aunt, Urmila, are both workaholics who are absolutely in love with machines!
Aryan Agnihotri flies from Mumbai to the USA for work and to meet his beloved Aunt, but his Aunt has to go out of town for some urgent work. She tells Aryan that while she is away, her Manager, SIFRA, will take care of Aryan and attend to him. Eventually, Aryan falls in love with SIFRA, and they get physically intimate with each other. As Aryan spends more time with SIFRA and gets to know more about her and her capabilities, he is amazed, and he gets drawn towards her.
When Urmila Shukla returns after a day or two, Aryan learns from her that her Manager, aka SIFRA, is actually a robot, and not a human being. Aryan’s heart shatters as he is emotionally attached to SIFRA, and has developed real feelings for her. He is heartbroken when he learns that SIFRA has no real feelings, and only acts according to commands, codes, and computer programming. The trick was to experiment and understand if Aryan is able to distinguish between a human and a robot, and find out if SIFRA is a robot, by interacting with her.
Aryan decides to leave immediately so that he can forget SIFRA and his love for her, but he is unable to do so. He then makes a deal with Urmila Shukla that he will bring SIFRA to India, and introduce her to his parents and his family. The trick was to test if his family members are able to understand that she is a robot, and if SIFRA is able to manage and function properly in the environment of a typical Indian family.
However, Aryan voluntarily stretches things too far by deciding to marry SIFRA. He introduces SIFRA as his girlfriend and his would-be-wife to his family members, and his family members are elated to learn that Aryan is finally willing to get married. However, Urmila Shukla is against Aryan’s decision, and tries to stop their marriage. She tries to convince Aryan how dangerous and risky it is to get married to SIFRA, and how SIFRA is the result of her tireless labour and efforts.
Eventually, Aryan’s family and all the other guests present at their wedding get to know that SIFRA is not a human, when SIFRA starts malfunctioning due to some defects in her motherboard. She starts performing those tasks that were stored in her ‘deleted folder’, and Aryan lands up in grave trouble as everyone finds out the truth about SIFRA. Hence, they are unable to get married. In fact, Aryan has to knock SIFRA out to stop her from causing further harm to humans and things around her.
However, in one scene, Aryan asks SIFRA if she wants to get married to him. SIFRA asks him if that is possible. She says that in history, a human and a robot have never gotten married to each other. Aryan tells her that in history, a robot as beautiful and glamorous as SIFRA has never been created. Aryan is willing to get married to SIFRA as he loves her with all his heart, and he cannot live without her. SIFRA becomes the reason why Aryan wants to live.
In another scene, Monty, Aryan’s friend and colleague who is also a Robotics Engineer in the same Robotics Company, tells Aryan that SIFRA has no real feelings and emotions. Her actions are results of computer programming and coding. She simply functions on the basis of codes and commands, according to the rules of computer programming. If Aryan and SIFRA get married, their children will be pieces of iron without any real feelings, and Aryan will eventually find himself in hot soup.
In yet another instance, Aryan asks his friend Monty, why he isn’t able to understand that “this” is the future, despite being a Robotics Engineer himself. Here, “this” implies the fact that a human and a robot can get married and live as life partners, in the future. Here lies the question, if the film Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya is a futuristic Bollywood sci-fi romantic drama film, or not.
The film introduces the idea that humans can create robots that exactly look, feel, and act like humans. Kriti Sanon’s SIFRA is a very human-like robot. She looks exactly like a human, she feels like a human, and she acts like a human. If you touch her, you’ll feel that she is a human. If you smell her, you’ll feel like she is a human. And she is equipped with special features to hide her unique robotic features from humans, so that humans do not feel odd being around her.
Her body temperature is that of a normal human being. She perhaps has the same reproductive organs that a woman has, even if they do not function in the same way; because Aryan does not understand that SIFRA is a robot, even after getting physically involved with her. Aryan is unable to come to terms with the fact that SIFRA is a robot, and he fails to understand that she can never truly be his lady-love and his life partner. He is totally blinded by his love for her.
The film raises several pertinent questions that have significant relevance in the future. Can humans and robots get married? Can robots reproduce? Can humans and robots produce offspring? To what extent can humans and robots interact with each other? And to what extent is it safe for humans to interact with robots? To what extent are human beings and robots compatible with each other?
Will humans slowly become extinct as robots eat up our jobs, and as the lack of jobs slowly eats up human lives? To what extent are robots helpful and beneficial to humankind? When can robots become disastrous? Is this the future that lies ahead for us? And, is it a viable future that we are creating for ourselves? These questions are important to ask, and think about, and try to answer, as these are the questions that will define the kind of future lives that we humans shall create for ourselves.
For instance, in the climax sequence of the film (which I personally disliked, since I felt that the climax was extremely underwhelming), SIFRA starts malfunctioning. She becomes vulnerable and dangerous. She sets everything around her on fire, and she even tries to attack and harm the human beings around her. The film also highlights how dangerous and disastrous robots can become for us humans, to a certain extent.
In an extended scene after the climax sequence, Janhvi Kapoor appears in a special cameo role, and introduces herself as Jiah, who has joined the Robotics Engineering Company just a few days ago. She asks Aryan Agnihotri for some relationship advice and counselling, by telling him that she has not experienced much “luck in love” in the past.
Jiah tells Aryan that she sometimes feels that it is easier and better to date a robot, than to date a human being. She feels that all the qualities that she wants in a life partner; such as no lying, no cheating, and no throwing stupid tantrums; are more likely to be easily found in a robot, than in an actual human being.
Aryan then asks Jiah an important question; would she prefer an imperfect human being with real feelings, or a perfect robot with no feelings at all, that is just programming. After carefully listening to Aryan’s question, Jiah says that she thinks she’ll pick a human, to which Aryan readily agrees. Because he repents having made love with a robot. The film does show us how advancements like SIFRA have both advantages, and limitations, and why they require modifications.
This is a crucial scene because it asks several vital questions, and leaves ample scope for us to think, and analyse. What does the future really have in store for us? Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics Engineering are fast-evolving fields that are indispensable to human existence. To what extent are they advantageous, and when can they become disastrous? We don’t know, but let’s at least think about it!
Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya makes you wonder; if this is a romantic comedy film, then where is the romance? If this is a science fiction film, then where is the science? The film does make good use of technology by incorporating praiseworthy VFX, SFX, and CGI; but the film does go haywire, at certain instances. Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya has its plus points, and its minus points. It is glossy, but awry. However, it is worth your time and money! The film has a number of comedic scenes that will make you chuckle.
You can watch Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya because of its unique theme, its modern set-up and concept, its accurate comedic timing, its electrifying production design and set design, its engaging screenplay and narrative, its catchy soundtrack, and because of Shahid Kapoor and Kriti Sanon’s sizzling performances and on-screen chemistry! It is an enjoyable and entertaining watch!
Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya is running in cinemas near you now! Thik hain?