Genre : Comedy
Year : 2006
Running time : 3 hours
Director : Priyadarshan
Cast : Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Govinda, Lara Dutta, Rajpal Yadav, Shakti Kapoor , Tanushree Dutta
BHAGAM BHAG : COMEDY’s NADIR
I’ve always liked Priyadarshan’s films – they’re sort of like the last bastion of decent comedy. With “Maalamal Weekly I had hope. With this and previous films like “Phir Hera Pheri” however, he seems to be losing his golden touch. Is this the same man who made the fabulous Virasat ? Seems hard to believe. It’s like the fall of Mahesh Bhatt – from the classy “Saaransh” to the rotten residue spilling over from the Bhatt camp currently. Hai ! That downfall; it’s painful to watch.
So what’s it about ? OK, there’s this drama troupe, comprising of the director Champak Seth (Rawal), main leads Babla (Govinda) and Bunty (Akshay) and Anjali (Tanushree), on their way to London to do shows. Problems arise when the heroine quits because of Babla and Bunty’s crude behaviour, and the troupe must fly sans heroine. Once in London, Babla and Bunty search for a heroine, and find one in suicidal Munni (Lara). But big-time trouble follows because Munni is not who she seems . . .
It’s not like I didn’t know what to expect. I had seen the trailer. And I still went to see it. So, who’s fault was it ? The dumbo director’s for dishing out this kind of trash, or mine for seeing it? Bhagam bhag is chockfull of the comedy one would call time-pass; time-passed badly that is. The comedy that is so eagerly lapped up by the movie-goer – no wonder we seem to be getting more of it.
The story, and I hate to call it that (gives it credibility), is nothing but a product of someone’s bad, impromptu imagination. I can just imagine THAT writer’s block. Ooh, I’m all out of ideas ! Oh my, oh my, what shall we do next ? Let’s let loose a hive of bees into their midst ! Already flaky characters pursued by bees ! Oh, yeah ! That should be money’s worth ! That’ll make the film a hit. And the pity is, is that it will. If not a hit, I’m sure BB will at the very least do pretty good business.
However, at this time of the year, I’m thankful for small mercies. And while this is a poor film, it did have fewer of those sick, vulgar innuendoes which other comedies thrive on. The rest – you know it all – the cardboard-ish characters, the apparent lack of brain-power, the inanity, the stupidity, blah, blah, blah – I could go on forever.
Still, because I’m an ultra-nice person, and it’s the holiday season and I’m feeling not quite my bitchy self (although a couple of more such “comedies” will get me there) I’ll say that the film does have some good points. They are in descending order :
1. The songs : Most of the songs are catchy melodies – especially the “Pyar ka signal” number.
2. Akshay Kumar : The actor looks good (although must get rid of the extra ab fat) even when dressed in dungeon-grunge as he is here, acts well, and displays a flair for comedy.
3. Paresh Rawal : You could dunk this guy in the worst film possible and he’d still come out smelling of roses.
4. Some genuinely funny lines – these are few and far between, but are present.
As in all of Priyadarshan’s movies, this film retains a semblance of order because of the decent direction. The acting, such as is required, is OK. Govinda has aged; he now sports a paunch and a couple of chins, but still retains his ad-libbing glib tongue, thanks to all that valuable experience in David Dhawan-esque films. Rajpal Yadav is reduced to a caricature as the taxi-driver Gullu.
So, unless you are getting free tickets, and have 3 hours to kill, you could do better with your time.
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