May 20, 2013 05:21 PM
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The Phogarts(yes, that IS the title of this family) are an interesting family of Policemen. Helmed by the patriarch who is a DCP(Rishi Kapoor) and whose son and nephew are ACPs, they run a nice little business, collecting money from businessmen whose illegal activities they choose to ignore. Set in the suddenly-urban Gurgaon, this film packs quite a punch in the fact that this Yashraj film steers clear of melodrama. There is no baraat, no rain sequence(though there is a bikini in a swimming pool) no chiffon sarees.
Instead there are people living in shockingly real looking houses, wearing everyday clothes and doing what people in their professions are supposed to be doing. Which in the case of the Phogarts is, guarding their family's self-interest. Arya Phogart, played by Prithviraj is the son of a policeman(Anupam Kher) who is disreputably discharged after an "encounter" ends in the death of the wife and son of the alleged gangster.
Before you can say What The Humphrey Bogart, the policeman, who is dying, tells his son that the woman and son are in fact alive and that they are in Nainital and he must promise to take care of them. Arya agrees bitterly and goes to take responsibility. But he and his uncle, the DCP decide to use the son of the gangster, to get evidence against the gangster by kidnapping his twin brother who lives with the father.phew.yes that is one helluva bicchhde hue bhai ka story.
Arjun Kapoor as the judwe bhai is surprisingly good. Surprising for me ie because I simply couldn't stand him in the 15 minutes of Ishaqzaade that I saw. Playing the spoilt brat comes naturally to him I suppose. For a relative newcomer, he delivers dialogues quite effectively. The lines in this film are well written and many of the dialogues had the audience laughing out loud,
However the girl who plays his love interest is surprising for the wrong reasons. She has all the presence of a shiamak davar troupe dancer. And you keep wondering why she is getting so much footage. Instead I preferred the short track on Arya and his saree-clad wife.
Rishi Kapoor as the patriarch who is urged on, even by his wife, to take decisions without flinching is, as always, such a pleasure to watch. That is competency, consistent reliability.
The film has a theme that it builds on effectively - the lust for power. The need to realise dreams even at the cost of relationships. The morality of power is well debated. Apne vs sapne.while the audience I think, remained a little skeptical about the lessons being delivered, the effort was a good one.
The best thing about the film is the unusualness of the depiction of characters. There are parts of the film that were unique for Bollywood. For instance the reason given for why the mother chose to take one of the twins and not both. There is quite a bit going for the film in terms of pace and unpredictability. That said, it is still not a smooth, consistently likeable film. But it is definitely a superior watch to all the tripe that gets released every single week.
