Film: Bajaatey Raho
Cast: Dolly Ahluwalia, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Tusshar Kapoor, Ravi Kishan
Director: Shashant Singh
The trailer of Bajaatey Raho looks promising. Of course, it gives away a couple of gags, but one presumes they have more in store. The actors are veterans of subtle comedy, the film has a run time of just over an hour and a half, and the director has the much-loved Chalo Dilli to his name. Going in, one’s expectations are very high. Sadly, the film doesn’t deliver on its potential.
The premise of the story is a revenge-con. Mrs Baweja (Dolly Ahluwalia) is out to avenge the lost honour of her husband, who was conned by an industrialist (Ravi Kishan) and made the scapegoat in a scam. After taking the fall and being blamed by angry investors, Mr Baweja dies in dishonour. Mrs Baweja, commanding a gang, decides to get back her own, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less style. Joining her in this pursuit are her son Sukhi (Tusshar Kapoor), Ballu (Ranvir Shorey), Mintoo (Vinay Pathak) and Kabootar (Husaan Saad).
Dolly Ahluwalia is almost a better actor than she is a designer, and that’s saying something. After watching her in Vicky Donor, and even Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, we were all looking forward to a more substantial role. She is easily the best performer in a formidable cast. Though the film’s elaborate play on their professions and their names is a bit of an eye-roll inducer, the cast does pull off this comedy thriller.
To be fair, the film skips most of the staples this genre would beg, but I do have a couple of gripes. Does a film that is 108 minutes long have the time for romance and song-and-dance? The first half focuses mostly on the romance between Sukhi and his girlfriend, which pegs its pace down considerably. The narrative suffers from interruption by one wannabe clever song after the other. The only one that made me laugh was the spoof-bhajan O Meri Mata.
Ranvir Shorey grates on one’s nerves with his self-conscious Delhi talk. Vinay Pathak, playing a caterer who dreams of a career in acting, is adequately funny, and everyone else does their bit. The exception is, of course, Tusshar Kapoor, who pegs the film down, but perhaps sophisticated comedy is not quite his genre. I suppose he’ll find a more suitable outlet for himself in one of Rohit Shetty’s slapstick mind-numbers soon enough. Ravi Kishan does a rather fun Mr Sabarwal, delighting in the Punjabi accent – a departure from the Bihari roles he is regularly cast in.