Consortium of corny punchlines

Film: Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara

Director: Milan Luthria

Shouldn't it have been Twice Upon A Time? Or a conventional Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai 2? Maybe a suffixed Returns or a completely different title altogether? But no, they decided to go with Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbai Dobaara (OUATIMD). And sadly, in this sequel to the film which was a decent re-creation of the 80s flamboyance, there are no talking points that go deeper than how the title should have been composed. In fact the entire film is as insignificant as the Y in the Ay and the A that was in the prequel's Mumbaai.

Overconfident from having sold the prequel, Luthria's film goes overboard with heavy-duty dialogues that swell up like helium balloons before bursting into nothingness. Every single line in the film, except perhaps the lyrics of the songs, is punctuated and exaggerated to sound deliberately ostentatious, which after a point makes you sick. The punches are only ironically amusing and it is hard not to judge the person sitting next to you, if he/she is genuinely falling for them.

Set roughly in the late 80s, the film picks nearly a decade after the climax of the previous film. Shoaib, played by Emraan Hashmi earlier, grows up and indigestibly turns into Akshay Kumar. And while the setting of a gangster thriller idly loiters around; OUATIMD plays itself out like a ridiculously childish, set-piece love triangle.

After Lootera, the sudden rise in expectations from Sonakshi have led to further disappointment as her character Jasmine sees her regress into the submissive, powerless role where she is at the mercy of two powerful men. One of those men, Shoaib, played by Akshay, is the villain, while Imran's Aslam is the archetypal hero.

Akshay Kumar simply recites punchlines throughout the film, with a cigarette, that has no regard for continuity, constantly lit between his fingers. Lacking the powerful aura of Ajay Devgn's Sultan Mirza and the charisma of Emraan's Shoaib, his black shades and well-kept hair hardly create a persona. While the first film gave us the memorable “Duaa mein yaad rakhna” by Sultan Mirza, Akshay's Shoaib throws one too many dialogues for us to remember any of them. And Imran Khan disappoints once again (or dobaara, if you may), with his contemporary body language and South Bombay accent. Maybe he never received the text that said the movie was set in the 80s.

Overall, OUATIMD is a null and void movie which serves no purpose other than killing time inside an air-conditioned dark-room. However, it will make truck loads of money and set precedents for more dobaaras of the same category.

At 160 minutes, the film is a fitting punishment to give to someone who has just lost a bet. With repetitive sentiments and caricatured leads, the film is a long test of endurance for anyone with a good taste in cinema. Beyond redemption, it wouldn't matter what the critics say. To put it in Shoaib's words, (read in Akshay's husky voice) -- “Agar aisi film ko rating diya, toh number bura maan jayenge.”

Rating: 1 out of 5 

Published in DNA (Pune) on August 17, 2013 

Adapting an email forward on screen

Film: Ghanchakkar 

Director: Raj Kumar Gupta

Spoiler Alert: the man taking you for a ride in Raj Kumar Gupta's Ghanchakkar is Raj Kumar Gupta himself (along with co-screenwriter Parvez Sheikh). Whether the 140 minute film is a comedy, drama or a thriller itself is a puzzle that takes time to figure. And while some of it is entertaining, the film is a crazy start-stop roller-coaster ride.

Divulging any more details than the ones available in the film's promotion would spoil the experience of watching it. Ghanchakkar is about Sanju (Emraan), who helps two schemers Pandit and Idris in robbing a bank. However, in the cool-off period, he meets with an accident and loses his memory, which causes him to forget where the money is hidden. The collaborators then enter Sanju's house and stay with him and his fashionable Punjabi wife Neetu (Vidya), hoping to recover their spoils. The film then comically sets up a web of deceit where you just can't tell who is telling you the truth.

At large, the film may seem like a comedy thriller, but it runs deeper. Beneath its layers of clever one-liners and hilarious sequences, the film underlines the melancholy of a man without his memory, his inability to trust anyone and his losing grip over his own identity. However, in the process of doing all of this, the makers (quite ironically) seem to have forgotten what they really wanted the film to be.

Some scenes are stretched beyond their communicable value and some others the film could have done without. A film shows a triad looting a bank wearing Dharmendra, Bachchan and Utpal Dutt masks later shoots its own foot by not living up to its own standards. As the humour in the dialogues begins to wither, the only thing that keeps you interested in the film is Vidya Balan. Her portrayal of a fashion-savvy, aggressive Punjaban is so convincing that if Ghanchakkar is the only film one has seen her in, it would be almost impossible to prove her South Indian origin.

Namit Das and Rajesh Sharma, who play Idris and Pandit respectively, fit into their characters like tailormade suits and seem effortless. Emraan Hashmi's Sanju is quite two dimensional and is made likeable by the lines he mouths.

A decent one-time watch after a heady week, Ghanchakkar is just the right amount of amusement that is expected from a normal movie. A treat for fans of Vidya Balan, who is a band apart from her contemporaries just for agreeing to this role. For the rest of us, not a waste of time to say the least. 

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Published in DNA (Pune) on June 29, 2013 

Fine Daayan

It is sickening to see how the genre of horror, thanks to the lacklustre productions that have been made in this country, has ended up being a branch of comedy (unintentional). Just a month ago, we saw Aatma trying to break that clutter but only managed to scare you. But finally the tried and tested myth of the daayan has attempted to revive this genre. Kannan Iyer's Ek Thi Daayan is positively chilling, hair-raising and is capable of being responsible for some sleepless nights.

Vishal Bhardwaj's disciplined screenplay creates a setting, which from the very beginning creates an eerie atmosphere of thick fog which makes you see only what the maker intends you to see. Ek Thi Daayan is a story of Bobo (Emraan), a famous illusionist, who is betrothed to his girlfriend Tamara (Huma). However, the ghosts of his past are a roadblock to their future together. He therefore revisits his old shrink only to recollect a horrifying regressed memory of how a daayan killed his sister and his father. Tormented by the memory, Bobo decides to move on, only to find Lisa Dutt (Kalki), an NRI come to India in search of him. This opens a can of worms and Bobo's life takes a turn for the worse. Has the old daayan returned? If so, why is she after him?

Just over two hours long, the film has a smooth flow to it and builds up suspense one-step at a time. By the end of the first half, you only have a lot of questions about what is going to happen and are in half a mind to get it over with soon. In the second half, the film answers most of your questions, but not before it descends into that part of your mind which feels ticklish when scared.

In an attempt to avoid the in-your-face horror, even the spookiest, eeriest scenes have a sense of believability about them. And although you don't feel the tremors of fear shaking your skin while the scenes take place, you may feel them later that night when you are lying awake in bed, in the presence of numerous moving shadows. The final ten minutes of the film are fairly ordinary, but you tend to go forgive that in the larger scheme of things.

The background score, by Clinton Cerejo, is largely under-utilised and could have added so much more value to the film. The music and lyrics are top notch, especially the title song Lautungi Main by Rekha Bhardwaj. Her haunting, melodic voice welcomes you into the film, before the actors take over and deliver some memorable performances.

Emraan Hashmi, although the protagonist of the film, has very little to do. Most of the times, his character is only reacting to situations. Huma Qureshi, positively shrugging off her image from GOW, is refreshing in her portrayal of Tamara. Kalki, who plays Lisa Dutt, also fits well into the shoes of a chirpy, outgoing girl. But Konkona Sen Sharma is the pick of the lot. Her character, Diana, is the personification of black magic itself. With subtle change in looks, she can go from being loving and adorable to deadly and vicious.

This psychological, super-natural thriller of a film is a great kick for horror junkies; and for the faint- hearted, stepping in elevators or being in the same room as a lizard will be hard for a few days.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Published in DNA (Pune) on April 20, 2013