Nautanki Saala

A delight

 

            Rohan Sippy’s Nautanki Saala inspired from a French film Apres Vous seems to be a film Sippy had been waiting to make since ages. He makes an intelligent comedy film with a simple yet sensible storyline and excels thoroughly.

                RP (Ayushman Khurana) encounters a confused man with a dilemma, Mandar(Kunal Roy Kapur); then friendships, ladies and comedy of errors in very unconventional ways is what NS talks about. In Hindi movies, the director’s craft is often hidden under the star power of its leads and the the male lead actor easily looks like the captain of the ship. Sippy however is the true hero of the film who writes vivid, unconventional scenes with some fabulous comic situations and keeps the audience engaged in a story which could have got really annoying. He writes a linear screenplay and keeps his story telling very simple yet very intelligent. He cut shorts through many scenes, keeping the run time just over two hours.

 



                Sippy however fails create a totally convincing relationship between his two male leads. The question of why would RP go out of his way to help Mandar who he just recently befriended, getting himself into trouble and having to face financial losses, especially when RP doesn’t seem to be a too liberal person after all, remains unanswered.

                Cinematography is particularly good, and locales of South Mumbai are used brilliantly. The sets and theatres are well shot too. The costumes are young and casual and particularly interesting during the Ramayan play. Music is catchy and compliments the story well.

                Ayushman Khurana yet again shines through the film in an author backed role. It is however Kunal Roy Kapur who creates almost all the laughter of the film and gets the Marathi accent so right. The three girls have little to do, but they never disappoint.

Nautanki Saala is a perfect answer to many commercial 100 crore comedy films with big stars which do nothing but thrive on stupid clichés and often objectify women.

 

       I am going with 3.5 out of 5 for Rohan Sippy’s Nautanki Saala. Don’t miss it!

 

Chasme Baddoor

The occasional laughter

                As I planned to catch Chasme Baddoor this weekend, my obvious homework for reviewing it was watching its original, which I must admit I couldn’t. Surprisingly, not having watched the original totally worked for me, as I could experience the novelty of the story without having to scrutinize and compare the two films.

                Director David Dhavan tries to pull out his type of humour out of a 1981 comic film Chasme Baddoor. Now to begin with, the story is simple, predictable and really stupid in parts. So all Dhavan could offer us is a big laugh riot in which he didn't totally succeed. Witty one- liners and some well written scenes are the saviours but film falters to totally appeal to the audience as the original did.

 

 

                Dhavan uses the clichés: Friends falling for the same girl, crossing agendas, lies and then a settlement. What he does right here is that he writes a fast paced screenplay and finishes the movie within 2 hours, not giving us the chance to lose patience. The first half disappoints as it offers a repetitive script and some pretentiously comic dialogues that provide absolutely no humour. It is fun to watch mad dialogues, but don’t be too surprised to find some really stupid one’s too here!

                Dhavan uses the location of Goa well. Beaches, cafes and shopping malls are well shot. Editing is interesting, especially in the flashbacks. Costumes are conflicting; you see a broke Ali Zafar in branded clothes and specs. Music is fun, catchy and one of Sajid-Wajid’s better works.

                Dhavan messes up the casting. Ali Zafar as the lead character seems out of the place and doesn’t find his spot in any scene. Tannu Pannu as the lady love fails the impress and needs to take big lessons on acting. Anupam Kher, Rishi Kapoor and Lilette Dubey are dependable as always. Siddharth and Divendu Sharma sparkle through the film with a superb comic timing.

 

Dhavan offers you a not so bad film. If you are ready to settle for it, go watch it. I am going with an average 2.5 out of 5 for David Dhavan’s Chasme Baddoor.