Pagalpanti
Ratings: 2/5
Duration: 2 Hrs 13 Mins
Director: Anees Bazmee
Genre: Comedy. Action
Release Date: 22 November, 2019 (India)
Star Cast: John Abraham, Ileana D Cruz, Urvashi Rautela, Anil Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, Pulkit Samrat, Kriti Kharbanda, Saurabh Shuka, Urvashi Rautela
Plot: John Abraham, Arshad Warsi and Pulkit Samrat are ready to do anything to come by a bit of cash. Since, John (Raj Kishore) has been hit by bad luck; it rubs off on everyone he meets. So, when Pulkit (Chandu) and Arshad (Junky), joins hands with Raj their business venture literally goes up in flames. Therefore, the trio decides to stick together till they can recover the money.
Review: Filmmaker Anees who have given hits like Welcome and Welcome Back somewhere have faltered in his job as even with the hugely talented star cast, somewhere down the line, it seems wasted with weird roles are given to them. The movie could have been better if the makers had invested much on the writing side.
Though Saurabh Shukla is seen at his comic best, Arshad Warsi is that funny guy with witty one-liners while, Anil Kapoor once again plays the flashy gangster, John Abraham exudes charm despite his goofy character and Pulkit Samrat once again brings on his boyish charm. While Ileana D'Cruz (Sanjana), Kriti Kharbanda (Janvi) and Urvashi Rautela does a decent job though all they are called upon to do is screech hysterically and look pretty.
It is when Bazmee tries to wear his patriotism on his sleeve through the introduction of the character called Nirav Modi and makes Raj Kishore mouth a ‘heart-felt' speech about how people like Modi have looted India and needs to be held accountable for their action that the comedy loses track. But thankfully that is just a minor blip, and the movie gets back to buffoonery mode.
Overall, Pagalpanti did not have the punch to boost the entertainment value in a big way even though there was lots of humour. As most of the dialogues, puns, and punches seemed stale.
Talking about the other elements like photography, music, screenplay and direction, these appeared good. Technically the film may be at par with good mixing and editing, but the money spent in the abroad setting and the action shots of the film could have been put to better use.
Watch the film at your own risk as you may end up maligning logic in a way that you never did before.
