Taxi No. 9 2 11 – A Bumpy Roller Coaster Rid. Review on Taxi No 9211

Situational comedy enacted by the lead characters mixed with adventure and thrill seems to be the latest mantra of bollywood being offered by some young turks of the entertainment industry that might just leave our specialist comedians gasping for roles. Director of Taxi No. 9211 Milan Lutharia (Previous offering Deewar,2004) & the Producer Rohan Sippy who gave us an average hit Bluff Master have come together and offered us this roller coaster ride filled with some fun & excitement but also with a few bumps here and there. This Tom & Jerry adventure could have had a few more interesting moments though.

The film has John playing Jai Mittal, a bigshot Page 3 Socialite & a typical spoilt brat having his love interest in Rupali (Sameera Reddy). On the other hand, Nana plays Raghu Shastri, a man who has changed 23 jobs in the last 15 years due to his cynical, instinctive, acidic & egoistic attitude is a cabbie in reality but claims to be an insurance salesman to maintain his dignity. He and Sonali Kulkarni (as a traditional Maharashtrian wife) live a hand-to-mouth existence always under debts. Surprising though she is always well decked up??? The movie’s story is set in a day where Jai boards Raghu’s cab to collect his will from the locker and present it in the court to prove he is the right heir to his father's property worth Rs. 300 crores. Jai in his pursuit to reach on time forces Raghu to speedup and meets with an accident leaving Nana in the lockup along with Jai’s locker keys that Jai had dropped due to the accident. This is where the Tom & Jerry fight triggers where Jai wants the locker key from Raghu and Raghu will not let it go at any cost. Jai in his pursuit to chase Raghu innocently reveals the fact of Raghu’s profession to his wife making things even worse for Raghu. Surprising there is enough time for Raghu to run away from the lockup and open a locker account in the same bank and tricks away Jai’s will & that is not at all convincing. Raghu also destroys the will crashing all the hopes for Jai. When Jai looses everything Rupali also dumps him and Jai realizes the hollow relationships that exist in the Page 3 circuit. In contrast, Raghu’s wife stands by him only to show the strengths of marriage and children that hold relations together in testing times. After all that Jai pays for Raghu’s bail and also shares a drink at home. Can anyone toast a drink with someone who has attempted to kill him and has been instrumental in loosing Rs. 300 crores ??? Well all that can only happen in bollywood!!! At the end Jai gets his will from Raghu and also comes to terms with the harsh realities of life.

The script has its flaws to its credit but at the same time the casting of the characters is just perfect. Nana Patekar & Sonali Kulkarni being maharashtrians have played their characters with natural authenticity. Nana Patekar with his style of dialogue delivery leaves you splits in the most solemn and crisis moments of the storyline. John looks suave & impressive has improved but still cant match the veteran Nana Patekar. But both of their fan followings definitely will have enough to chew to appease their appetite. Sameera Reddy has put on some weight and fills in the glamour quotient. Music by Vishal-Shekhar seems to be quiet “Right here Right Now” in line with the previous Bluff Master, offering that unconventional Rap & Jazz style in their promotional foot tapping song “Meter Down”. Adnan Sami has sung it extremely well. “Ek Nazar Mein Bhi” is hummable & “Bambai Nagaria” sung by veteran Bappida is passable. The movie has been well shot in the heart of Mumbai city and the traffic brawls are well executed. To sum it all, it is an adventurous ride but with a few potholes, so don’t expect a Mercedes but definitely a Maruti Esteem.

Thanks for reading my review. Request you rate & put a few comments!!!

Two and half Stars.