Pagalpanti movie review: This John Abraham starrer is perfect 'so-bad-that-it's-good' material

Besides John, Pagalpanti, which is directed by Anees Bazmee stars Anil Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, Pulkit Samrat, Kriti Kharbanda, Ileana D'Cruz, Urvashi Rautela, Saurabh Shukla, Mukesh Tiwari, Zakir Hussain, Inaamulhaq, and Inaamulhaq

By Russel D'Silva
Published: November 22, 2019 2:53 PM IST

Anees Bazmee has made a career out of tickling the funny bone through over-the-top, full-blown masala comedies, centered on insane plots, featuring multi-star casts, replete with slapstick humour, and brimming with crackling one-liners. But no matter how insane the plot would get, Bazmee always toed the fine line between insanely funny and insanely ridiculous. In Pagalpanti though, the Director doesn't just tip across the line, but takes a giant leap right over it. Also Read - IIFA 2023 : Salman Khan to Vicky Kaushal, most stylish Bollywood stars at IIFA Pre-event ‘Green Carpet’

What's it about
Well, it's a herculean task to even begin making sense of what Pagalpanti is about, but let's give it a shot. Raj Kishore (John Abraham), Junky (Arshad Warsi) and Chandu (Pulkit Samrat) are three losers who pass on their rotten luck to anyone they come in contact with. Fate places them in the employment of Raja Sahab (Saurabh Shukla) and WiFi Bhai (Anil Kapoor) — two 'supposedly' dreaded dons, and no prizes for guessing that everything turns to hell and damnation for them, too, as it does for the film. A minor army of rival gangsters with names like Tulli (Zakir Hussain), Bulli (Ashok Samarth) and Baba Jani (Mukesh Tiwari) intermittently pop up to pose various obstacles to Raja Sahab, WiFi Bhai and every grey-matter cell in our brain. Also Read - IIFA 2023: After stunning at Cannes, Urvashi Rautela turns heads in an all-white outfit

As for what the actresses — Ileana D'Cruz, Kriti Kharbanda and Urvashi Rautela — well, they look mesmerizing throughout the film and dare you ask more. Like, take a moment to think how tough it would be to maintain your perfect hair, makeup, and sexy attire while facing life-threatening situations. But all the heroes, all the heroines and all the villains put together pale before the big baddie, Niraj Modi (Inaamulhaq) — yup, you guessed it right: he's straight from the Nirav Modi handbook — who offers every loser and gangster alike a chance to turn a new leaf with some late-blooming 'deshbhakti'. Also Read - Asur 2 trailer out: Arshad Warsi-Barun Sobti open new doors to the world of darkness and evil; fans call it 'Zabardast' [VIEW TWEETS]

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What's hot
Arshad Warsi. He's the only saving grace of the film, eliciting at least an assortment of guffaws and chuckles from vocal cards that otherwise are kept inexplicably silent through a comedy film. By no means does this translate to him getting the best lines. It's just the actor's impeccable comic timing to make even the farcical sound funny that provides some semblance of succour in the face of towering preposterousness. Is there anything else in the film other than Warsi worth mentioning? Well...have you even been reading my review thus far?

What's not
Boy, this is going to take a while! Firstly, Bazmee has made hitherto the worst film of his career — yes, even worse than No Problem and Sandwich. It almost seems that the clone of the filmmaker who made such enjoyable gems as Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, Deewangee, No Entry and Welcome called the shots this time around. It's not only his script (co-written with Rajiv Kaul and Praful Parekh) that shouldn't have been passed in the first place, but his direction, too, is shockingly off-kilter to the point where you're left wondering if he had begun working the project after getting an A-list cast on board.

As for the cast...oh, the cast! You really feel bad to witness a bunch of talented actors like Anil Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Mukesh Tiwari, Zakir Hussain and Inaamulhaq fumbling and floundering about like caricatures of themselves. On the other hand, Pulkit and Kriti aren't given a single opportunity to mark their presence (we know that they're both talented and just need the right project) while John is compelled to undo all the goodwill he earned in Satyameva Jayate and Batla House.

Coming to the leading ladies (if we can even call them that), you're left stunned at the shoddy treatment meter out to them. I'm not even referring to their overt sensuality, which is fine in a hardcore commercial entertainer in my book. No, I'm taking about their step motherly treatment made all the perplexing given how Bazmee has always found meaty parts for his heroines (even when playing second fiddle to the heroes) whether it be Kajol in Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, Urmila Matondkar in Deewangee, Bipasha Basu and Lara Dutta in No Entry, Ratna Pathak Shah in Mubarakan or, to an extent, Katrina Kaif in Welcome.

When all else fails, it's time to play the last-resort deshbhakti card as the film jumps from atrocious comedy to even more atrocious patriotic saga. To top it all, Prashant Singh Rathore either appears to have fallen asleep at the editing table or many not have been paid his dues — we can see no other reason for the film to have dragged for an eternity. The final nail is driven in Pagalpanti's coffin when Bazmee is reduced to lifting scenes from other comedy classics like Hungama and Dulhe Raja helmed by other filmmakers.

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BL Verdict
There's a lot of laughter on offer while watching Pagalpanti. It's just that you'll be laughing at the film rather than with it, and we don't think that was the intention of the makers. There's a silver lining though: Movies like Pagalpanti are perfect recipes to achieve cult status in later years as they perfectly fit in the so-bad-that-it's-good mould. I'm going with 1 star.

Rating : 1 out of 5

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ByRussel D'Silva
Published: November 22, 2019 2:53 PM IST