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Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma don’t quite hit the mark in their latest movie

It is never easy to play a conman who is also the hero. A hero has to be likeable and a guy who swindles widows is not exactly likeable. So what can a filmmaker like Maneesh Sharma do? He brings in Ranveer Singh, perhaps the only actor from the current crop who can straddle the line between heroism and villainy with ease. A perfect tribute to the actor whose dialogue “kabhi kabhi kuch jeetne ke liye kuch haarna bhi padta hai. Aur haar ke jeetne wale ko baazigar kehte hain” Ricky Bahl has as his callertune. Ranveer has you laughing at his antics, shocked at his coldness, swooning with his charm and saddened at his heartbreak, as he goes from Sunny Singh to Iqbal Khan to Deven Shah to even Diego D’Souza. He effortlessly changes his body language depending upon the character he has turned into for a con. But even he is not immune to the failings of the script.

Ladies vs Ricky Bahl (LVRB) seems to have been written in a hurry just to cash in on the Ranveer-Anushka jodi after Band Baaja Baaraat. Their love story here begins in the middle of the second half and there is just not enough time for it to develop into a convincing narrative. Their chemistry has already begun to pall. Worse, there is no suspense in the film as we already know the entire plot from the trailer – Raina (Dipannita Sharma), Dimple (Parineeti Chopra) and Saira (Aditi Sharma), three of the 30 women Ricky has conned over the last 15 years, come together to take revenge with the help of Ishika Desai (Anushka Sharma). You know what the end result is going to be even before Ishika is introduced, a few minutes before the interval, with Jazba.

Anushka really needs to work on her diction though she has improved in her expressions. When Anushka as Ishika says, “I am not an actress. I can only do what comes naturally,” we agreed. Dipannita excels while Aditi is okay and Parineeti irritates. She has potential but her performance won’t leave you waiting with bated breath for Ishaqzaade.

The songs aren’t that great (except for Aadat se majboor) and the dialogues aren’t memorable. LVRB doesn’t make you believe in true love or in good defeating evil or in honesty, goodness or kindness – something every Yash Raj Films production from Waqt to Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and even BBB did. All LVRB does is leave you feeling uninspired.