Nov 28, 2014 08:01 AM
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A long-in-the-making film often has to face an uphill task. It might look dated and at times, technologically outdated. Ungli is also a delayed film but it looks fresh as ever. Few might argue that it doesn’t work now since the ‘achche din’ are in the offing thanks to the change in the government. However, Ungli would have failed even if it had released when corruption was at its peak. The idea is great and relatable – but it is very badly directed, that makes Ungli one of the biggest disappointments of recent times.
The story of the movie: Abhay(Randeep Hooda), Maya(Kangna Ranaut), Goti(Neil Bhoopalam) and Kaleem(Anged Bedi) are fed up of the corruption that has become a part of the system. They don masks and form the ‘Ungli’ gang and start teaching lessons to corrupt people in their own style and even post videos of their doings. In no time, they become heroes in the eyes of the common man. Nikhil(Emraan Hashmi) too gets impressed by the Ungli gang. Inspector Kale(Sanjay Dutt) is asked to preside over the case and bring the gang members to task. However, the gang members are experts and would never leave any clue whatsoever after committing their act of bravado.
There’s no doubt that Ungli indeed has a relatable story. When the gang members teach a nice lesson to auto rickshaw drivers, politicians who deface our cities with ugly-illegal hoardings, babus who delay pension files etc, one can’t help but feel elated and excited as everyone has gone through one of these ordeals in their lives. However, the premise needs to be nicely directed as well. And that’s where Rensil DSilva fails as the director. The film is too quick and except the sequence where it is explained why the Ungli gang was formed, no other portion in the film evokes any empathy for the characters. Yes, there’s a surprise in store from the very start with regards to Nikhil’s character but after a point, one can make out where the film is heading.
Even from the writing point of view, the film falters badly in the second half. The Ungli gang members are shown messing with some powerful people of the society. Yet, they easily get away. Even cops don’t get a single clue about them for days altogether. There is no major conflict and confrontation that arise in the narrative. Everything happens very conveniently. The climax is sans any dhamaka and the film ends on an unconvincing note. That’s not it. The 2 clapworthy dialogues shown in the promos – “Ek baar main fodna shuru karoonga na, toh fir koi guarantee nahin hai ki kya, kya tootega” and “Jitna dum aapke ek haath mein nahin, utna dum meri ek ungli mein hai” – are missing in the film! Then in 2 places, Sanjay Dutt’s voice is dubbed by someone who’s bad at imitating Sanju. What’s more, the makers could have done away with both these dialogues! And then the censor board played spoilsport by forcing the makers to ‘correct’ middle finger scene. Hence, it is quite awkward to see Randeep Hooda flashing a closed fist instead of his ‘beech ki ungli’!
Believe it or not, Emraan Hashmi has kind of a supporting role in the film! He isn’t present in some interesting sequences of both first and second half. Performance-wise, he is sincere as always but it’s really sad to see that Ungli adds to his list of back-to-back flops. He has a fan base and can pull audiences the way very few actors can. Here’s hoping he springs back on top in 2015!
Randeep Hooda in many ways is the ‘main hero’ of the film and is superb. He really leaves a mark in some of the confrontational sequences. Kangana Ranaut has more of a guest appearance in the film and it’s no wonder, she isn’t promoting the film. She gives a decent performance, though. Neha Dhupia arguably has more screen presence, especially in the first half and does well. Sanjay Dutt is fair but suffers from bad characterization. Neil Bhoopalam and Angad Bedi are strictly okay. Same goes for Arunoday Singh(Ricky). Mahesh Manjrekar(B R Dayal) is too good. Shiv Subramaniyam(Inspector Shivraman), Raza Murad(Commissioner) and the actors playing Anshuman and his pals are good in their small roles. Shraddha Kapoor is sizzling in the item song.
Music fails to add to the impact. The title song is nice though, especially because of the visuals – the funky titles. John Stewart Eduri’s background score is energetic. Deepa Bhatia’s editing is too quick due to which the impact fails to get generated. Milap Zaveri’s dialogues are clapworthy and although at places it’s too filmy, it works well. Action is impressive. Rensil DSilva’s story is great, especially the base but falters in the end. But that could have been saved with a great script and most importantly, sound direction. But script is nothing great and direction is simply disappointing. It’s difficult to believe that it’s the same person who directed Kurbaan, which in my opinion was a great effort, especially direction-wise. But with Ungli, he is simply not in form and moreover, he didn’t even have a good plot to somehow save himself.
On the whole, Ungli is a film where so many things goes wrong, and how. Initial scenes impress as it deals with the problems faced by aam aadmi almost everyday. Also, performances are fine and dialogues clapworthy. But the film is super-quick and one never gets a chance to empathize with the characters. The second half is very convenient and unconvincing and the film lacks some dhamaka and confrontation in the finale. Some of the interesting scenes shown in the promos are missing while Emraan Hashmi has more or less a supporting role – believe it or not! King-sized disappointment!
