Dreamy locales, designer threads, wedding sequences, racy numbers and a happy ending — Yash Raj Films finally got the formula right.”Bachna Ae Haseeno” has all this and more. It’s a formula film no doubt, but it has its heart in the right place.

So when you are introduced to Raj Sharma, an incorrigible flirt and lovable rascal with a serious commitment phobia — you kind of take to him immediately.

He meets girls, makes promises of everlasting love and then disappears. First, its Mahi (played by Minissha Lamba), a sweet Punjabi girl he meets on a trip to Switzerland, then Radhika (played by Bipasha Basu), an ambitious model.

Third time around, our hero is struck really hard — when he meets Gayatri (Deepika Padukone). They drive around Sydney at odd hours, dance around exotic beaches (watch out for the beautifully shot ‘Khuda Jaane’ track) and of course fall in love. Now here comes the twist, which of course we won’t tell you.

Let me just say that a turn of events prompts Raj to revisit Mahi and Radhika to make amends. The rest of the film focuses on this mission.

It’s obvious right from the first frame that this is Ranbir Kapoor’s film through and through — and he comes out shining. His first film (”Saawariya”) didn’t showcase his comic talent and it’s quite obvious Kapoor has lots of it. He pulls off the scenes with the right amount of goofiness and innocence.

The three leading ladies perform well and look great — Yash Raj heroines always do, so that’s not a big surprise. Deepika and Ranbir’s chemistry is crackling on screen but Bipasha and Ranbir also make a great pair.

A bigger surprise is Kunal Kapoor’s character — it’s a pleasure watching him on screen and it’s difficult to say more without giving away details, so we’ll stop.

Director Siddharth Anand takes “Bachna Ae Haseeno” where many Indian films have gone before — it has shades of “Hum Tum”, “Dil Chahta Hai” and “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge” (although the last one is intentional).

At the end of it, “Bachna Ae Haseeno” is not a masterpiece but it is a likeable film and an honest effort, which is more than we can say for recent releases in Bollywood.