Saurabh Shukla, Rajat Kapoor, Ranvir Shorey, Neha Dhupia et al – once put in a sentence, you get a fair idea of what to expect from the film that follows. Bheja Fry, Mithya, Hulla, Dasvidaniya and more recently – Fatso; are all films that have a niche audience and hardly ever attract the so-called masses. Saurabh Shukla’s I M 24 too is just another example of a lighthearted comedy with a message.
It is a story of a 42-year-old struggling writer Shubhendu Roy (Rajat Kapoor), who is honest and righteous. He lives with his roommate and friend Gagan (Ranvir Shorey) who is a struggling actor and believes that end justifies all means. But life takes a turn for Shubhendu when one day, he comes across a pretty girl from Delhi while chatting online and guess what! He falls in love with her. But, his insecurity about being a middle-aged, bald nobody, pushes him to drift away from the path of righteousness and take Gagan’s advice. He claims to be a 24-year-old sporty guy with long hair, who is a writer by profession, and claims to have written Gadar, Dil Chahta Hai, Lagaan and Kal Ho Naa Ho. The twenty-something internet-savvy girl from New Delhi, wait for it, believes him. The first half ends on a dramatic point, where the girl says she will visit Mumbai and meet him.
But the build-up of the first half begins to gradually decay, as the film turns into a dampener. Shubhendu first attempts to convince the girl of his lie with the help of his friends and later confesses his farce to gain a moral high. What follows is a diabetically sweet climax where things fall into place for all the main characters, at least in terms of their romance.
The ensemble cast includes some renowned and established actors who play the supporting roles. Saurabh Shukla himself plays a bloated television producer and Lilette Dubey plays his chesty wife. Vijay Raaz plays a waiter/struggling actor whose story runs almost parallel to the main plot. The typical one liners that are the USP of such films, are few and far between. The scene where Vijay says, “Yahaan calender ke paise nahi hain aap date ki baat kar rahe ho,” (to Ranvir Shorey) makes you chuckle the most while watching this film. Ranvir Shorey and Rajat Kapoor have lived up to their roles, but Rajat always looks too classy for a poor man.
For all that a film about online dating and false identity could be, this film is vague and shallow. The preaching of “truth triumphs” almost makes you point a gun to your head, and the fact that the climax actually proves this hypothesis true, makes you pull the trigger. I Am 24 is lighthearted alright, but at times, it is light-headed too.
Rating: 1 out of 5
Published in DNA After Hrs (Pune) on September 1, 2012
But the build-up of the first half begins to gradually decay, as the film turns into a dampener. Shubhendu first attempts to convince the girl of his lie with the help of his friends and later confesses his farce to gain a moral high. What follows is a diabetically sweet climax where things fall into place for all the main characters, at least in terms of their romance.
The ensemble cast includes some renowned and established actors who play the supporting roles. Saurabh Shukla himself plays a bloated television producer and Lilette Dubey plays his chesty wife. Vijay Raaz plays a waiter/struggling actor whose story runs almost parallel to the main plot. The typical one liners that are the USP of such films, are few and far between. The scene where Vijay says, “Yahaan calender ke paise nahi hain aap date ki baat kar rahe ho,” (to Ranvir Shorey) makes you chuckle the most while watching this film. Ranvir Shorey and Rajat Kapoor have lived up to their roles, but Rajat always looks too classy for a poor man.
For all that a film about online dating and false identity could be, this film is vague and shallow. The preaching of “truth triumphs” almost makes you point a gun to your head, and the fact that the climax actually proves this hypothesis true, makes you pull the trigger. I Am 24 is lighthearted alright, but at times, it is light-headed too.
Rating: 1 out of 5
Published in DNA After Hrs (Pune) on September 1, 2012
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