‘Heer Express’ Movie Review: Outdated Storytelling Derails Divita Juneja and Prit Kamani’s Family Drama (LatestLY Exclusive)

Heer Express Movie Review: Umesh Shukla, the filmmaker behind the revolutionary OMG - Oh My God! and the likeable 102 Not Out, finds himself in a rare situation this Friday - two of his directorial ventures, Heer Express and Ek Chatur Naar, have released on the same day. I haven’t yet seen Ek Chatur Naar, but I can only hope it fares better, because Heer Express feels like a film that should have been left behind at the script stage - or perhaps in the 1990s. ‘Heer Express’ Trailer: Divita Juneja and Pritt Kamani Bring Heart and Humour to This Family Drama.

The film follows happy-go-lucky Heer Walia (debutante Divita Juneja), a Punjabi girl who runs a dhaba in memory of her late mother. Raised by her two bachelor uncles (Gulshan Grover and Sanjay Mishra), Heer is a talented cook with a heart of gold. One day, two women from London - Olivia (Sarah Lockett) and her manager (Meghna Malik) - stop by her dhaba and are so impressed by her food that Olivia offers Heer the opportunity to run a restaurant in London named after her mother. Heer happily agrees.

Watch the Trailer of 'Heer Express':

In the UK, Heer meets Ronny (Prit Kamani), a chatty Uber driver who falls for her instantly, and TJ (Ashutosh Rana), Olivia’s husband and the restaurant’s owner. What Heer doesn’t know is that there’s a more personal reason she has been brought to London, beyond just a job offer.

Unfortunately, Heer Express is one of those films where your mind races ahead of the screenplay, and before the story sets up its big reveal, you’ve already guessed every twist. The writing offers nothing fresh — not in its characters, not in its plotting, and certainly not in its ideas.

Heer herself is written as the archetypal sunshine girl - a whirlwind of cheer who supposedly lights up every room she enters. The film wants us to see her chatty intrusions as endearing, but they come across as overbearing. Her life advice is treated as life-changing, and everyone she meets is magically transformed by her simplistic nuggets of wisdom. The movie even has her respond 'me' when a customer asks about the restaurant’s special. If I were that customer, my Google review would be memorable - but most definitely not flattering.

Her constant meddling becomes so grating that when Ashutosh Rana’s character bluntly tells her to keep quiet, it almost feels cathartic. Not that it lasts - she’s back to chirping away in seconds. None of this is Divita Juneja’s fault; I am pretty sure she has given exactly what she is told to do. And I hope in return, she and the rest of the cast at least enjoyed their London vacay.

The plot itself is painfully predictable. The 'big revelation' about TJ’s connection to Heer is telegraphed from miles away, and the emotional misunderstanding at its heart feels like a relic of family dramas from decades ago. The script even throws in the overused trope of a character overhearing a secret conversation - the kind of writing we thought we had outgrown long ago.

Because Heer Express feels like a relic from the '90s, we're treated to tired commentary on the vast differences between 'Western' and 'Indian' culture, complete with lectures about kids today not wanting to live with their parents. Never mind the hypocrisy of TJ himself not speaking to his elder daughter because she dared to choose her own partner. That's our desi culture, I guess.

If that wasn't enough, the film throws in a scene where our desis, draped in the tricolour, break into a patriotic song and somehow convince the local Brits to join in. Typical NRI stuff, I guess. ‘Love in Vietnam’ Movie Review: Shantanu Maheshwari and Avneet Kaur’s Romantic Drama Feels Like a Tedious Tourism Package!

The romantic subplot offers nothing new, but at least Prit Kamani (whose most unfortunate trait is looking and acting a little like Kartik Aaryan) is a decent performer. The chemistry between the leads is passable, if uninspired.

By the climax, Heer somehow decides to enter an equestrian competition - with zero training - to resolve a financial crisis. Naturally, she wins. Naturally, her victory conveniently solves all the film’s conflicts. Frankly, I was half-expecting the British to hand her the Kohinoor as a parting gift.

The saving grace is the senior cast - Grover, Mishra, and Rana do their best to keep the film on track, though even they can’t salvage such dated writing. And can we talk about Sanjay Mishra? Once Bollywood’s reliable comic relief, his recent choices - from Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 to Son of Sardaar 2 and now this - make you wonder if it’s the material that’s failing him, or if he’s simply lost the magic touch.

'Heer Express' Movie Review - Final Thoughts

Heer Express is a film that feels stuck in a time warp, recycling tropes and family drama beats that no longer land with today’s audiences. Despite earnest performances and scenic London backdrops, it fails to deliver anything fresh, leaving you wishing this 'express' had been cancelled before departure.

(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 13, 2025 05:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).