Movie: Joker
Director: Shirish Kunder
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala, Farah Khan
Music: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Minisha Lamba, Shreyas Talpade
Cast: G. V. Prakash Kumar, Gaurav Dagaonkar
Here's a film that had great potential for an equal measure of comedy and drama. What could have been a delightful, fantastical fable turns out to be a damp squib full of flat jokes.
Circa 1947: When the maps of India and Pakistan were being drawn, an oversight ensured that the village of Paglapur didn't find a place in either country.
The village had the distinction of housing the largest mental asylum in the region and in the melee that ensued during Partition, the asylum inmates broke loose, drove away the villagers and established their own republic in Paglapur.
And that's how it stayed for the next 60 years! While the world outside changed, Paglapur remained isolated.
Tides turn when, when Agastya (Akshay Kumar) and wife (Sonakshi Sinha) arrive in the village. Agastya is working on a top secret project for creating a device to communicate with aliens.
When he tries to better the life of the villagers and solve the water crisis, he is shunted from one government office to the other. Agastya begins to think of ways to put his village back on the map, even if it means involving aliens.
The humour is poor. Why would you laugh at a man who speaks gibberish, another who thinks he is a lamp post and everyone else who think Mahatma Gandhi is still around, fighting for independence? Apart from being impolite and objectionable, these gags are simply not funny!
Then there are other jokes like Akshay's character calling UFOs an "udta, phirta omelette" or the sentence "Humaara mazaak mat udaao" is translated literally as 'don't fly our jokes'.
While one admires that Kunder has kept the comedy clean and devoid of vulgarity, it does not excuse the comedy turning bland.
Writer-editor–director Shirish Kunder (Jaan-E-Mann) makes a film that probably sounded better on paper. The film, touted as India's first extra terrestrial comedy, falls flat and doesn't deliver its promise.
If you're planning to take the kids for the novelty of seeing an alien movie, please keep in mind that the aliens aren't as interesting as they should have been.
The portion where an alien shakes a leg to songs could have been so adorable, but here it's just garish.
What works for the film is the lead pair. Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha are great sports and play along with the bizarre script. Their chemistry is the highlight of the film.
Akshay does well, but dialogue-based comedy is not his forte.
Sonakshi looks ravishing and has the familiar likeable screen presence that the audience loved in Dabangg.
Another thing that elevates the film are the lavishly choreographed songs, especially the I Want Fakht You song picturised on Chitrangada Singh.
An extra-terrestrial film sounded interesting. One wishes the film was as fun as the core idea!
Rating: 1.5 stars
Director: Shirish Kunder
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala, Farah Khan
Music: Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha, Minisha Lamba, Shreyas Talpade
Cast: G. V. Prakash Kumar, Gaurav Dagaonkar
Here's a film that had great potential for an equal measure of comedy and drama. What could have been a delightful, fantastical fable turns out to be a damp squib full of flat jokes.
Circa 1947: When the maps of India and Pakistan were being drawn, an oversight ensured that the village of Paglapur didn't find a place in either country.
The village had the distinction of housing the largest mental asylum in the region and in the melee that ensued during Partition, the asylum inmates broke loose, drove away the villagers and established their own republic in Paglapur.
And that's how it stayed for the next 60 years! While the world outside changed, Paglapur remained isolated.
Tides turn when, when Agastya (Akshay Kumar) and wife (Sonakshi Sinha) arrive in the village. Agastya is working on a top secret project for creating a device to communicate with aliens.
When he tries to better the life of the villagers and solve the water crisis, he is shunted from one government office to the other. Agastya begins to think of ways to put his village back on the map, even if it means involving aliens.
The humour is poor. Why would you laugh at a man who speaks gibberish, another who thinks he is a lamp post and everyone else who think Mahatma Gandhi is still around, fighting for independence? Apart from being impolite and objectionable, these gags are simply not funny!
Then there are other jokes like Akshay's character calling UFOs an "udta, phirta omelette" or the sentence "Humaara mazaak mat udaao" is translated literally as 'don't fly our jokes'.
While one admires that Kunder has kept the comedy clean and devoid of vulgarity, it does not excuse the comedy turning bland.
Writer-editor–director Shirish Kunder (Jaan-E-Mann) makes a film that probably sounded better on paper. The film, touted as India's first extra terrestrial comedy, falls flat and doesn't deliver its promise.
If you're planning to take the kids for the novelty of seeing an alien movie, please keep in mind that the aliens aren't as interesting as they should have been.
The portion where an alien shakes a leg to songs could have been so adorable, but here it's just garish.
What works for the film is the lead pair. Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha are great sports and play along with the bizarre script. Their chemistry is the highlight of the film.
Akshay does well, but dialogue-based comedy is not his forte.
Sonakshi looks ravishing and has the familiar likeable screen presence that the audience loved in Dabangg.
Another thing that elevates the film are the lavishly choreographed songs, especially the I Want Fakht You song picturised on Chitrangada Singh.
An extra-terrestrial film sounded interesting. One wishes the film was as fun as the core idea!
Rating: 1.5 stars
0 comments