Dhawan betters Kandireega

At the end of the film comes the signature: This is a David Dhawan film. Not needed. It screams to be from his stable. A remake of Telugu hit, ‘Kandireega’, it is a completely justifiable take on our cinema. You know what to expect from his school and he delivers that with panache. You know that you do not carry your sanity even by chance into the theatre and you know that the next two hour is about a smart guy and his adventures. Of course you also know that with aging Govinda, David is definitely not going back to him just because he has a script that would do suit him. At the outset it must also be stated that this is among David’s better entertainers.

For those who look for a story in all and any kind of film: Our hero Seenu (Varun) is a good for nothing and the entire town of Coonoor is happy when he leaves the town. In the toy train ride he beats up the baddies unaware that this could come to haunt him. In college he is smitten at first sight by Sunaina (Ileana) who is, however, stalked by the local inspector Angad (Arunoday) with the able assistance of Peter, his deputy (Rajpal Yadav). After the initial hesitation and the wooing from the heroine and the hero respectively the time for romance is on. Now comes the kidnap. Sunaina is whisked away by intercontinental baddie Vikrant (Anupam Kher) who runs an empire in Singapore with his man Friday Balli (Saurabh Shukla). Vikrant’s one serious weakness is daughter Ayesha (Nargis) who is of course is in love with Seenu. Now Seenu lands in the palace of Vikrant to save Sunaiana but has to agree to marry Ayesha. Following him into the palace is inspector Angad.

The palace is now a mad house and we get to see typical Dhawan senior situations. They are laughable as long as they last and fortunately don’t test your patience. The cast is pleasant and understands the spirit of the film. While Anupam Kher is his usual self going just a tad over board with his assignment, Saurabh Shukla is in perfect form and keeps you laughing all the while with his dialogues and his antics. Equally true Rajpal Yadav. Then there is Aruoday Singh who is for once given a semi comic role and he has a great sense of timing. Add this to his screen persona and you hope to see more of the guy in our cinema. Nargis has a role that perhaps suits her – she is to speak with an accent that could give the early Katrina Kaif a complex and just about be silly. Suits her. Ileana looks gorgeous and carries away the hot pants with élan. At a level the film belongs to Varun. The guy does everything that a Dhawan hero is required to do and adds to it by aping Shahid very very obviously. You cannot accuse him of poor taste!! Fun film. Watch it if you have no great expectations.