Sep 24, 2016 04:42 PM
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I don’t want to be so harsh for a Shreyas Talpade movie, but what was he thinking? Why would you sign a movie that doesn’t even look great on paper? Maybe, he wanted to motivate the debut director Ajit Sinha, or maybe…just maybe, the thought of grabbing Taj’s land was his dream come true. Well, there is no other good explanation to this, so I will sit on this thought.
The story is quite catchy, but whimsical, far-fetched and oddly illogical, when your grey matter starts thinking. It story is about a farmer, Tukaram Marathe(Shreyas Talpade) and his wife(Manjari Phadnis), travel all the way from Maharashtra to Agra, on their humble monster loaded with everything they can take with them. They travel all this way to claim what is rightfully theirs. It was given to his forefather but none other than Humayun. This farmer couple doesn’t give a rat’s a* even after knowing that Taj Mahal stands on this land and it’s not anyone’s property but a national treasure. When confronted by authorities for their absurd claim, they rightly produce all the ‘official’ documents and then starts the story of this unexplainable struggle.
Then comes a thought. For real. They really did do that? But why now? What will they achieve from all this? These questions are answered in rather slow pace and director doesn’t take much time to build-up a better story-line and characters persona, leaving me totally interested. Couldn’t better empathize with our leading farmer couple. The movie directly jumps into the struggle mode.
There are social activists with huge and wearing well-pleated sarees. Politicians who want to cash on this situation, fanning the spark and using for one’s benefits. Cops who are least bit interested about the scene that is unfolding and then there is our loyal media, for whom it is all about getting maximum TRPs.
This is a potpourri for one stereotypical, filled with satires in total Bollywood-ishtyle.
This movie is not the first where a director has brought(tried) to light the real issue gripping the country, and a little wider coverage of the issue could have helped the movie with more validity.
What I really liked about this movie was the courtroom scene; judge’s reaction and lawyers’ arguments are fun to watch. There are smart one-liners by Shreyas and Manjari, but tough to produce laughter as they are too clichéd.
Lead performances by Shreyas and Manjari are believable and come across as a genuine portrayal. But little bit of melodrama, makes them unconvincing. The other actors just add to this circus, completely killing the film.
Still thinking about the script that made Shreyas agreed to this movie, and it might have been good on papers, but totally lost in stereotypes and came out like a daily sitcom, snooze-worthy!
Just for its sincere effort, it should be recognised. But doesn’t need to be on a big screen.
