Sorry about the title! Just checking if you’d still be interested beyond that header! Looks like you’re already here! Well, read on…
“Aey suno… Plan! Plan ek ghadi hai, Swiss watch. Watch ke purze, yaani hum, perfect, toh ghadi bhi perfect. Tic… toc… tic… toc…. Wanra wohi watch saala, bomb banke, hum subko BOOM, samjha kya?!”
Thus spoke Major. What’s that got to do with this film? Nothing! But that’s the entire point! With the movie titled Plan, you’d be excused to expect something of that sort, if not our Planning Commission’s version. You might even think the movie revolved around some kind of a master-plan and its (botched) execution. Perish the thought. What you have instead is different.
The ‘Kaante’ Hangover
Is your life getting too serious? Need a break? Want to sit back and forget your worries for three hours? Well, here’s Plan – a movie that doesn’t demand much from tired souls like you. Yeah, you can even safely leave your brains in that family bank’s safe deposit locker! It is unlikely you would require that excess baggage here.
Remember Shetty, the famous bald stunt co-ordinator of the 70’s? His elder son Rohit directed Zameen, and the younger, Hriday Shetty, now brings you Plan. Sanjay Gupta, the producer, gave us the engaging Kaante last year. Although the genre varies, Plan sure does seem hung-over with the Kaante effect.
For starters, there’s a clear attempt to repeat the action and comedy show that marked Kaante. Dialogues sometimes sound influenced by the same effect. Basing the movie on a Plan to get rich quick, and weaving in a lot of thugs, only confirm the suspicions. However, if you expected the pathos and the tension generated by Kaante, the tautness in the script, those are bound to be missing here. It’s supposed to be a funny caper. It’s not as slickly packaged either, but that’s excusable.
Vital Statistics
Movie Name : Plan
Language : Hindi
Genre : Action Comedy
Director : Hriday Shetty
Producer : Sanjay Gupta
Cast : Sanjay Dutt, Dino Morea, Sanjay Suri, Rohitt Roy (yeah, the numero-bug bit him too), Bikram Saluja, Priyanka Chopra, Sameera Reddy, Riya Sen, Payal Rohatgi, Mahesh Manjrekar
Bare Essentials
The story is almost as predictable as they come. There are these four dudes – Lucky (Suri), Jai (Bikram), Bobby (Dino) and (Om) Roy – who meet up in a train to (where else but) Bombay. Lucky is a master gambler, but is patently lazy. Jai cannot bear separation from his girl (Riya) anymore, so he’s on his way to win her back. Bobby dreams of doing an Amitabh Bachchan – he wants to be an actor. Om thrives on making plans and deals, and is out to make some easy money. The usual routine of the foursome getting duped by the cabbie, and landing up in the heart of Bombay’s red-light area, follow.
Later, Jai loses the girl (but gets hooked by a hooker – played by Payal), Bobby expectedly gets frustrated in his attempts (but meets up with another aspiring star – played by Sameera), Lucky is cheated of his profits, and Om’s ideas only bring trouble. The by now inseparable buddies land themselves in a situation wherein they need quick money to save their posteriors. Out of desperation they decide to kidnap a ‘son of a rich businessman’, as they presuppose Dutt to be!
Meanwhile, Sanjay Dutt and Mahesh Manjrekar are feuding dons bent on getting each other’s lives. Priyanka plays Dutt’s muse. Needless to say, the foursome gets irrevocably entangled in larger, funnier and wackier situations once they successfully kidnap Dutt.
Worth the while?
With the storyline nothing to boast of, other elements somewhat rise to the occasion to save the day.
Firstly, there is the style quotient. Again, though not as slick as the Reservoir Dogs clone, Plan does ooze style.
Next, Sanjay Dutt plays Moosabhai, the don, to perfection. His serious demeanour only adds to the snigger quotient. He’s been doing a lot of this hoodlum stuff lately. He must almost be giving Abu Salem a complex! Boxerbhai, Munnabhai, Moosabhai! What next Sanjaybhai?!!
Dialogues sparkle with typical Milap Jhaveri one-liners, but sporadically. Dutt expectedly gets most of the good lines; but Manjrekar makes the most of his quirky character – delivering sher-o-shayari galore, but only enjoying them himself!
The mini-flashbacks to each youngster’s travails at their respective homes are hilarious. Their interactions with Moosa too are mirthsome.
Where the movie fails to meet expectations is in the climax. Although not downright silly or jejune, one was sure there was more potential to it than realised.
Besides Dutt, the dependable Sanjay Suri enacts his role with quiet gumption. This is the first time he has done a role that’s not so goody-goody-gumdrops, and clearly shows his class. He’s certainly a long-term prospect, capable of any role, whatever the hue – white, dark or grey.
Dino Morea too redeems himself. He’s not been given a serious role, for a change, and he does well to restrain himself from going over the top.
None of the female ‘leads’ seem unnecessary – they do have roles to play – but songs on them seem to be a bit of a ‘playing-to-the-gallery’ small change.
The songs (Anand Raj Anand) themselves are strictly mediocre. There’s even a number Pyaar aaya inspired by Alabina’s Salma ya Salamo. Background score sounds suspiciously similar to the Bridgestone ad; but that doesn’t make it bad, does it?!
Tributes are paid to some artistes, and there are some gentle (and some not-so-gentle) takes on others! All the way from Amitabh Bachchan to Shatrughan Sinha to Sunny Deol to Shah Rukh Khan!
Enough said
The film is stylish in parts, funny in parts and involving in parts, all cloaked in a garb of make-believe. Watchable, yes; but not unmissable.
And hey! Don’t take the title Plan too seriously…