VIBE — Kunal Kemmu is the VIBE!!! PK Verdict: 3.5 ⭐️s

VIBE — Kunal Kemmu is the VIBE!!!

A comedy-thriller that keeps you guessing, keeps you laughing, and—most importantly—keeps the Vibe alive.

Kunal Kemmu is just the Vibe of talent Bollywood needs more of. With Vibe, he proves yet again that he can write it, direct it, produce it, act in it—and actually make all of it work. That is no small FEAT.

The biggest strength of Vibe is its writing. It is original, tightly constructed and smart enough to consistently stay one step ahead of the audience. Just when you think you’ve cracked the plot, the film happily tells you, “Nice guess. Wrong answer.” The twists land because the screenplay doesn’t underestimate its audience or spoon-feed them.

It is rare for a comedy-thriller to strike the right balance between suspense and humour. Vibe does it with considerable flair.

The casting is spot-on. Preity Zinta is terrific. She brings authority to the screen effortlessly, commanding attention whenever she appears. There is a certain confidence in her performance that fits the character perfectly, and she handles the action with equal conviction.

Sparsh Shrivastava is brilliant and completely inhabits his character, Baggirath, fondly called Bugs. His camaraderie with Kunal Kemmu is one of the film’s biggest assets. Together, they bring the house down.

Kunal’s character is once again named Hardik—and at this point, Hardik is to Kunal Kemmu what Prem is to Salman Khan. Change the film, keep the Hardik. Why disturb a winning streak?

Hardik and Bugs are as different as two sides of a coin, yet they always have each other’s backs. The screenplay gives their friendship enough backstory for the bond to feel earned rather than manufactured. Before long, you genuinely root for the two. Their bromance works—and works really well.

Vanshika Dhir, making her debut as Kareena, is a promising newcomer. She plays her part with confidence and fits seamlessly into the ensemble. The supporting cast also does its job well, with cameos from Sharmila Tagore and Urfi Javed adding their own flavour of authority and humour respectively.

Vibe makes Comedy Meets Thriller. The comedy is largely situational, and that is precisely why it works.

Hardik, Bugs and Kareena work in the same organisation. Their ordinary professional lives take an increasingly chaotic turn when they find themselves in situations demanding far more from them than their abilities—or their maturity—can comfortably handle.

What follows is essentially a comedy of errors with consequences.

The screenplay keeps the thriller element tightly woven into the madness. As the plot unfolds, you keep guessing, predicting and second-guessing yourself. And just when you think you’ve figured it out, the film pulls the rug out. The beauty is that the thriller never completely hijacks the comedy, nor does the comedy dilute the thrill part. You get both.

At 2 hours and 26 minutes, Vibe is reasonably well-paced. The first half is especially gripping, keeping you glued to the screen with its sharp writing, humour and escalating situations. The second half is equally engaging, although some of the jargon occasionally slows the proceedings down. It does, however, manage to retain its grip and never completely loses momentum.

The action is another pleasant surprise. Preity Zinta looks convincing and performs her action sequences with impressive ease. Vanshika Dhir also makes an impact in the little action sequence of hers. Kunal Kemmu gets his own action set pieces, which are stylishly choreographed and elevated further by a background score that knows exactly when to turn up the volume bringing Sipahi alive.

The biggest weak link in my opinion is the film’s antagonist. Salem Kali as Abid feels underwritten and underperformed. The character doesn’t possess the menace or depth required to make the conflict truly compelling. A stronger antagonist could have added another layer of tension and made the thriller considerably more interesting. It is one of those cases where the hero’s side is having such a good time that the villain occasionally feels like he was invited to the party at the last minute.

Thankfully, the film’s overall style, production design, performances and action keep the cool quotient intact. Vibe is a 360-degree Kunal Kemmu experience—writer, director, producer and actor. And the most impressive part is that he manages to wear all four hats without letting one overshadow the other.

The film is funny without becoming frivolous, thrilling without becoming unnecessarily complicated and stylish without losing sight of its characters.

It isn’t perfect. The antagonist needed more meat, and the second half could have been tighter in places. But the writing is sharp, the performances are strong and the film consistently refuses to take the predictable route.

Do not miss the Vibe.

PK Verdict: 3.5 ⭐️s