Run out of ideas to make a movie..? Then you should probably watch a few Hollywood hits. Next find out why those movies were talked about… take those salient features, mix them up thoroughly so that people may not trace it back to the originals (or forget the “thoroughly” part, what is the big deal if people do trace it back to the originals)…Add a few songs (at least 6.. shoot them in a foreign location or inside huge sets) …. Rope in some stars and starlets (not necessarily actors and actresses) and then trust the paying public to lap up the madness… because you have the cast and crew going around on a publicity blitz claiming that the movie is “different” or think up a punch line something in the lines of “50% action…50% comedy…100% entertainment” !!! Duh Director Vikram Bhatt has over done it this time (so what is new..?).
His latest flick Awara Paagal Diwaana, probably assumes that the audience belong to a category that can be best described by, one amongst the three adjectives used in the title. It does not have a conventional plot…It is about the rivalry between the son and the son in law of a Don who dies leaving behind a large treasure of diamonds (somewhere in USA) which has to be shared equally between the son, son in law and the daughter. The son frames the son-in-law in a murder case after taking the audience through woefully sub-standard copy of the “matrix” stunt. The son-in-law escapes the police and goes to (where else) the USA. At this point in time the movie vaguely reminds you of the Hollywood flick ‘The Whole Nine Yards” . His neighbors are a Gujrathi family that’s controlled by its women. A reward of two crore is announced for anyone who will be able to give the whereabouts of the son-in-law, tempted by the rewards the women in the Gujrathi family send their hapless men to Mumbai, to inform the Son about the Son-in-law. Back in Mumbai, the hapless men meet a small time don and his side-kick, who take them to the son.…. Pardon me, I am sick and tired of writing the plot anymore… the movie carries on from Mumbai to US and several songs and exchange of partners ( yes I am serious when I say that the leading men exchange their leading ladies) and a really long (probably the longest in recorded history… it’s a shame if someone suggested to me that the climax was inspired by that great Hollywood Comedy It’s a Mad Mad World) fight, all is well that ends well. The music (Anu Malik) is bad, yes there are a couple of numbers that linger in the memory after the movie is over (but for how long will they last) and the background score is pathetic. The photography and the editing are okay- nothing to go gaga about. The stunts are different from the usual bollywood variety but are they good… well I will not say so.
Probably, if I had not seen Matrix and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and the likes, I would have appreciated this a little more. I am not against ideas taken from an inspirational movie, but lifting scenes as it is indicate intellectual bankruptcy. Akshay (son in law) and Sunil Shetty (small time don) are not at all comfortable with their roles. Aftab (the younger of the hapless Gujrathi men) is bad at times and worse during the rest. Except for Preeti, the other leading ladies don’t even have a role to perform and Preeti’s role is to keep crying when she is not dancing for the songs. Rahul Dev (the villain on screen but the plot, the acting and the direction are the chief villains in my opinion) looks his part.
Now if this movie is so bad then why the three stars… the stars are for Paresh Rawal and Jhonny Lever (in the ratio 2:1). If you liked Paresh in Hera Pheri you will just love him in this. As the head (constitutional) head of the Gujarathi family, who just cannot remember names, Paresh essays an unforgettable character Pyare lal..err Munna lal…no no it was Moti lal ..No I guess it was…well forget it what is in a name after all. Jhonny Lever as “Chota Chatri” the ever stammering side-kick of the small time don, is another brilliant portrayal. When the two of them appear on the scene it’s a laugh riot and when they are together on screen you better watch every moment of the action. It is a sad thing that these two brilliant performances had to get sandwiched in a movie of no substance. If the movie passes of without you having to pop painkillers it is thanks to efforts of Paresh and Lever.
On the final analysis I would recommend that you rather watch Matrix, Whole Nine Yards and Crouching Tiger… etc all over again…But then if you are a Paresh Rawal fan, you might jus be able to digest this one…