I had hopes from Banjo because of a couple of
things: director Ravi Jadhav has done a bunch of
good Marathi films ( Natarang is terrific; Balak
Palak places an important conversation at the heart
of a ‘children’s’ film; Balgandharva has great
music) , and lead actor Riteish Deshmukh is light
on his feet, even in the broadest comedies he
almost always seems to be seen in.
., .
But Banjo has practically no redeeming features. It
is about a NRI musician’s ( Nargis Fakhri) search
for an original sound which leads her to the banjo
artist Tarraat ( Riteish Deshmukh) and his ragtag
band, and what happens next.
Because underdogs have to win, we know how
things will pan out. But the painful progression to
that climactic point is filled with uniformly terrible
acting, clichéd situations and shouty, obvious
dialogue.
Fakhri’s actorly limitations are obvious even in the
song-and-dance sequences. And her choice of
attire for the slum tourism the film ties to pass
offas truism is very short shorts-and-singlets: every
single male character she passes or sits alongside,
has got his eyeballs hanging out. If that’s not
cringe-making, I don’t know what is. The gawking
males with wandering eyes includes Deshmukh’s
leading man, who calls her ‘madam’, and promptly
and predictably falls for her.
Thank you