Must feel good for writer-turned-producer Chetan Bhagat being lucky enough to get his characters transformed onto the reel. But at the same time it also must feel terrible for the filmmakers who choose to make films based on his novels (Rajkumar Hirani being an exception, who adapted 'Five Point Someone' into '3 Idiots'). Director Mohit Suri, who is specialised in making sob tales aka disasters, dares to adapt the author's melodramatic novel 'Half Girlfriend,' in his latest offering.

Given that the film is called Half Girlfriend, from Chetan Bhagat's book of the same name, one would be tempted to write half-reviews of it. But lesser mortals like us need to make do with the entire movie, more than two-hours of mind-numbing torture, and then get out of the theatre to write full reviews of half-films. First things first, Half Girlfriend - Dost Se Zyada Girlfriend Se Kam (that's the full name of the film, yes) the movie does not begin in 'writer Chetan Bhagat's room'.

Cinematic adaptations of novels are hard to nab. After all, how does one aptly decipher someone's published imagination, apart from also condensing an entire book into meager three-hours for reel, without losing the essence? Mohit Suri is certainly not the most capable filmmaker to do so. His previous outings, including 'Kalyug' (2005), 'Woh Lamhe' (2006), 'Aashiqui 2' (2013) and even 'Ek Villain' (2014), have proved Suri is efficient in delivering films with intricate writing, but with 'Half Girlfriend', like his last outings 'Humari Adhuri Kahani' (2015), the director seems to have lost the plot.

Half Girlfriend is the sort of poppycock where a guy from Patna comes to New York City to do an internship at the United Nations in collaboration with the Bill Gates Foundation by spending all his time visiting pubs and getting sloshed. Elsewhere he'd get the boot, but in Mohit Suri's film, his waywardness is rewarded with a job offer. Based on a novel by Chetan Bhagat, Half Girlfriend pitches Madhav Jha (Arjun Kapoor) as a humanitarian endeavouring to set up toilets in his mom's school and promote girls education, an undertaking he conveniently forgets in his preoccupation to find a girl in NYC's live singing bars on the basis of what caught her fancy as a 12 year old.

What's a half girlfriend? Madhav Jha, Bihari bhouy, bheak in Ingliss, doesn't quite know. Neither does college mate Riya Somani, the girl he has fallen for, who describes herself thus, with dead seriousness, without a shred of irony. They struggle, he who inhabits one part of India, she who comes from a wholly different one - he is a Hindi speaker who comes from a small town in Bihar; she is the immaculately-turned out daughter of rich parents from New Delhi - to find an answer to that crucial question which underlies all youthful romances: do we belong?

Fun fact: Two films release this week and both the films feature a protagonist, who cannot converse in English fluently. However, while Hindi Medium starring Irrfan Khan was a fun watch, Half Girlfriend, which is based on Chetan Bhagat's novel of the same name, is the exact opposite. Madhav Jha (Arjun Kapoor), a Hindi-medium student from Simrao in rural Bihar, lands up at a elite college in Delhi on a sports quota and promptly falls for student Riya Somani (Shraddha Kapoor) after watching her on the basketball court.

Almost every book of the Indian author Chetan Bhagat has been turned into a feature film and it has now become a trend of sorts. Adding to that is the second collaboration of Arjun Kapoor with Chetan Bhagat after he played the protagonist in their much successful 2 STATES. HALF GIRLFRIEND yet again is a romantic drama but this time, the subject deals with the changing definition of young relationships.

This is how Mohit Suri's Half Girlfriend starts: Madhav Jha (Arjun Kapoor), a student from Bihar, struggles to speak English during his college interview. Later he feels only half as good as the fancy Riya Somani (Shraddha Kapoor), who he adores. While watching these scenes, it occurred to me that Half Girlfriend is something of a companion piece to Hindi Medium (this week's other release). At their core, both films have a class and language barrier.

Madhav Jha (Arjun Kapoor) is a student hailing from the royal family of Bihar's Simrao. He has been brought up by his mother, who runs a school in the locality. He gets admitted in Delhi's St. Stephens College under the sports quota where he meets Riya Somani (Shraddha Kapoor), and instantly falls in love with her. Riya, a Delhi girl belonging to a rich family, speaks fluently in English, which impresses Madhav as he cannot speak English properly (Yes, we Indians are obsessed with spoken English skills). Riya becomes friends with Madhav and the two bond over basketball, which is a common favourite with both of them.

The assumption that many have read Chetan Bhagat's 2014 novel of the same name should be a safe one because Bhagat's fluff has its own following. But, Half Girlfriend is definitely not one of his best works. So, Mohit Suri (Aashiqui2, Ek Villain) gives us a celluloid outing that is thoda fun and largely exasperating. The fun bit comes from watching the Simrao boy (pronounced bai) struck by a thunderbolt when he spots the Delhi dame. And the brave attempts chalk makes in going for cheese is also endearing.

Where do you go when you've had it with the world? Tradition and cinematic cliche suggest some far-removed nook hidden from civilisation, a secret spot known only to you, but Riya Somani - the titular heroine of Half Girlfriend - has her fortress of solitude bang in the heart of New Delhi, atop the most securely fortified monument in the country. Whenever she feels overwhelmed, Riya casually slips past armed guards, steps over a chain or two and clambers up India Gate, sitting on the top to rhapsodise about the view.