- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Murtuza Nullwala
Anees Bazmee is known for making comedies that don’t have any logic. It has some funny scenes, grand sets, foreign locations, a hilarious climax, and great performances. Well, his recent directorial Pagalpanti is also not an exception. But then it is now actually getting repetitive.
Pagalpanti is about Raj Kishore (John Abraham) who is an unlucky guy. He along with his friends Chunky (Arshad Warsi) and Chandu (Pulkit Samrat) starts new businesses, but thanks to his unluckiness all the businesses face a loss. Well, one incident makes them meet underworld dons Raja (Saurabh Shukla) and Wifi Bhai (Anil Kapoor) and then the movie moves forward with a few funny scenes and a hilarious climax.
In the trailer itself, the makers had told that ‘Dimag mat lagana kyun ki inmein hai nahi’. Okay, so from the first scene itself I watched the film without using my brains and kept the logic aside. But the whole first half I watched it with just one expression on my face. I wasn’t laughing or giggling or even smiling, it was just a straight face. But thanks to the second half, this Anees Bazmee directorial is tolerable.
The second half has some really good funny scenes and the climax like all the Anees Bazmee movies is simply hilarious. But well, the unnecessary action in the climax could have been edited out. The last 15-20 minutes are the best part of the film and we are sure you will be rolling on the floor laughing while watching it. While the screenplay isn’t great, the dialogues save the day. The dialogues are damn good especially the one-liners.
Talking about performances, Arshad Warsi and Kriti Kharbanda steal the show. Both the actors have amazing comic timing and while we know that Arshad is a very good actor, Kriti is actually a surprise here. Other actors like John Abraham, Pulkit Samrat, Saurabh Shukla, and Urvashi Rautela are fine in their respective parts. Ileana D’Cruz is really bad and Anil Kapoor is wasted. Kapoor, one of the most talented and versatile actors of Bollywood, has been totally wasted in this film and we wonder why.
Coming to music, this film ruins our 90s memories. The song Tum Par Hum Hai Atke has been recreated. The original song was entertaining and Salman Khan and Kajol were superb in it. Here we have Ileana and John dancing on it, and they are very dull. The songs that impress us are Tera Bimar Mera Dil and Thumka. In both these songs, Urvashi’s dance moves are fantastic.
Overall, Pagalpanti is a brainless comedy and if you enjoyed Anees Bazmee’s earlier films you will enjoy this one as well. So, give it a try.
Ratings: 2.5/5
P.S. The movie also has a patriotic angle in it and it looks forced in the narrative.
Watch the trailer here…
