Friday 7 November 2014

The Shaukeens :: Movie Review






The Shaukeens, is another offing in the series of remakes being churned out these days albeit this one stands nowhere close and falls flat when compared to the original Shaukeen ( 1982 ). Where as the storyline of Shaukeen ( 1982 ) was genuinely funny with humor quotient flowing in regularly along with the narrative, in the remake they have tried hard to inject the humor which works only in parts and looks forced. So what’s common between Katrina Kaif of Bang Bang and Anupam Kher, Anu Kapoor and Piyush Mishra of The Shaukeens?  Well, they all want some bang bang in life, they all chase their love/lust interest and they all are denied action right till the end! Anupam Kher, Anu Kapoor and Piyush Mishra play Lali, KD and Pinky respectively (and one can’t decide what’s more weird --- their names or their satyriasis?). KD is a 60-year-old bachelor, Pinky a widower and Lali has a spiritual wife, hence they bond over let’s-leer-and-lech and make Shakti Kapoor look like Alok Nath. The film ruthlessly judges the youth about their obsession with sex, ironically coming from a character (Anu Kapoor) who is himself a chalta-phirta male version of Savita Bhabhi dot com. Distasteful !! Then there is Lisa Haydon who is in a relationship with her Facebook timeline. She plays a designer, the one who uses used toothpicks to make a hat and her toe nails to make quirky coolers. And I lost my breakfast to the fancy seats of the cinema hall. As Akshay Kumar, who plays a superstar in an extended cameo, explains: “Men are like dogs, the sight of a woman makes their tongues wag and eyes bulge.” If that was supposed to negate their creepy behavior, then it just didn't work. 


STORY & SCREENPLAY                                                      ::              The story of the movie has been co penned by Sai Kabir & Tigmanshu Dhulia. The credit for the screenplay & dialogues goes to Tigmanshu Dhulia which is a big big surprise as Tigmanshu is one of the finest writers we have today and the screenplay of this movie goes awry consistently. In fact, there are two different tracks running in the movie ; one is about lusty desires of three lecherous oldies and the other is about discontentment brewing in a Super Star regarding quality of roles that he has been doing in movies. Amalgamation of both these tracks at the sweet will of the writer hampers the pace and reduces the fun quotient from the movie to a great extent. Dialogue writing has always been the forte of Dhulia as he has written some real hard hitting dialogues in his previous works but in this movie he fails on this front too. Use of cuss words like Ghastikhana & Ye Degi kya repeatedly is in bad taste and fails to tickle your funny bone. The movie begins with 'The Shaukeens' - three 'andropausal' friends from Delhi; each one with a bursting libido and a desperately roving eye. Meet KD (Kapoor), Laali (Kher) and Pinky (Mishra) who lech without restraint. Thus, the movie refers to them as 'HKPs' (Hawas Ke Pujaris). But what the eyes feast upon, is not what satisfies 'what lies beneath'. Thus, goaded by the single and sexed-up KD, the teetering trio decide to go on one last fling of fantasy - pre-posthumous-puberty no less. So they pack their swim-shorts and kachchas and head into the blue yonder of Mauritius. (What a wonder). To rent a family-home owned by a nubile nymphet Aahana (Lisa) and sow their old oats. She's just had a break-up, and her state of mind (mindless, mostly) depends on the number of 'likes' on Facebook. Desperate to 'get some action', the oldies offer their sunken shoulders and paunches to cry on. Meanwhile, her hot-fav superstar Akshay Kumar (playing himself in a cool cameo), makes an entry and she tosses around the toofani threesome to get up-close with AK.


STARCAST                                                                      ::                                  The only department where the movie scores full brownie points is its acting department as almost all the actors seem to have given their best as per characters assigned to them. Akshay Kumar who has played himself in the movie is at his comic best. He has delivered some of the finest comic punches in this movie. It is not easy to invoke laughter by taking digs & hitting pot-shots at himself but Akshay has done it with ease. Lisa Hayden seems to have started from where she left in Queen and does it in style in this flick too. She has played the character of a free spirited designer who is a big time fan of Akshay with aplomb. Amongst, the three lecherous men, Anupam Kher as the sophisticated Laali has yet again given a solid performance. Annu Kapoor as the bachelor n flamboyant KD is simply flawless. His performance n mannerisms reminds of the character that he played in Vicky Donor. The best of punchlines and dialogues are delivered by him in the flick. But the actor who walks away with the cake is Piyush Mishra who has nailed the character of lusty widower to utmost perfection. His body language, facial expressions eespecially the way he flicks his lips are a treat to watch. The scene where he literally forces Akshay & event organizer to garland him n Lisa has turned out to be the most rib tickling scene of the movie. How, I wish if we could see more of Piyush on big screen.


TECHNICAL FINESSE                                                                  ::                      The soundtrack of the movie has been composed by a battery of music directors that include Yo Yo Honey Singh, Hard Kaur, Vikram Nagi, Arko Mukherjee & D J Notorious but despite contribution from so many composers, the album is nothing to write home about as none of the songs has a repeat value. The cinematography of the movie has been handled by Chaudhary Amalendu and he has done a fine job behind the lens. He has captured the streets of Delhi, beaches and picturesque locales of Mauritius with aplomb with the frames being rich and vibrant. The editor of the movie is seasoned editor Rameshwar S Bhagat who has botched up this time. The editing of this 155 minutes long movie is tacky, uneven and patchy at times which takes the attention of the audience away from the movie. Director Abhishek Sharma has failed this time as lot was expected from him especially after his last offering " Tere Bin Laden " which was a thorough entertainer. No Doubt, there are some real good entertaining moments in this movie too but they are too few. He has not been able to extract the best from his crew and has been let down especially by the writing, music and the editing departments of the movie.


CONCLUSION                                                                          ::                  If you have the patience to sit for close to two and half hours and wait for those LOL moments to arrive in-between, than you can go and watch this movie else wait for it to be telecast on satellite channels. 

ROHIT SHARMA.
Follow me on twitter at  https://twitter.com/smgr105
rohitreview@gmail.com
  

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