A noticeable aspect of Bollywood in the last decade has been the rise of what I call the SBGM - Small Budget Great Movie. Usually made on a shoestring budget (INR 10 crores or less) they pack a great story, great performances by lesser known actors and make memorable watches. Some find box office success, like Vicky Donor (made at a budget of 5 cr, grossed about 65 cr at the box office) and Peepli Live. Some fail commercially(anyone remember Luv Shuv tey Chicken Khurana?), but live on in the hearts of critics and movie-lovers like yours truly.
One such SBGM was the 2010 political satire - Tere Bin Laden. A Pakistani news reporter, who in his desperation to migrate to the US, hatches up a money-making plan by making a fake Osama Bin Laden video and sells it to a news channel. The plan has unexpected cross-country repercussions, landing him and his entire motley crew of amateurs (including the false Bin Laden) in trouble. Put simply, TBL was a laugh riot. Great performances by the protagonist (Ali Zafar), his bumbling assistant (Nikhil Ratnaparkhi), the false Laden (Pradhuman Singh) - and almost everyone else. For me, TBL also established another important fact - that plots with seemingly impossible storylines can be made entertaining if made properly.
Hence it was with great expectation that I went to see "War Chhod na Yaar" in its first week of release. If you haven't heard of it, or if you don't know what the movie is all about - here's the trailer:
War Chhod na Yaar official theatrical trailer
Why did I have great expectations? First, the plot seemed as impossible as TBL, to make a satire on a historical rivalry between 2 nations. Second, it starred Sharman Joshi, Sanjay Mishra and Javed Jaffrey in lead roles - underrated actors with great comic timing (TBL never had any celebrated comic actors). Third, the trailer really made me laugh and was a sign of things to come.
Debutant director Faraz Haider tries to create a plot where rival soldiers on both sides of the fence are shown to have great camaraderie. They play Antakshari over loudspeakers, joke about each others' food, and generally get along like neighbors. He tries to show (rightfully so) that soldiers are merely human - it is the politicians and their vile motives that is responsible for war. In the end, the human spirit triumphs and the wrongdoers learn their lesson.
A great idea, completely disappointing in its execution. Firstly, there's no real screenplay. Haider seems to have simply come up with an idea for a story and then struggled to stretch it over a 2 hour run-time. As a result, short bursts of brilliant comedy are interspersed with long stretches of boring, mindless activity. Scenes which dazzle you with situational humor
are succeeded by scenes where the characters either resort to slapstick, Govinda-esque humor, or (worse) get into silly stuff like defacating on screen. Even the talented Jaffrey and Joshi struggle to find their feet as a result.
Secondly, satire does not mean your core characters act like buffoons. In WCNY, only the Indian army looks and acts like poster-boys. The Pakistan army is shown as a bunch of clueless idiots with a sick, delusional commander (Sanjay Mishra) at the helm. They beg to get fed well and new uniforms cause incurable itches. Dalip Tahil plays 4 politicians (Indian, Pakistani, Chinese and American - go figure) all of which are selfish idiots. The Pakistan Army commander plays video games, or chooses to visit the bathroom, when attending a diplomatic con-call. Mukul Dev plays an Afghan intruder - I'm sure a character brought in to just stretch the plot - who's repeated infiltration attempts gets spoiled by an Indian army spy like taking candy from a baby.
Thirdly, what is Soha Ali Khan doing in the movie? She plays a news reporter called Rut Dutta (thank you Faraz, we would have figured that Barkha is a Rut in Hindi) who gets sent to the front by a politician for covering imminent war. As she watches the camaraderie between the 2 sides and realizes who is really responsible, she takes it upon her to set things right. Sadly, she neither acts nor looks the part of a game-changer. We have had better performances from her in RDB and Mumbai Meri Jaan (ah, another SBGM close to my heart!).
Lastly, the ending is really tame. A lot of average movies have turned out extraordinary in the way the climax has been treated. WCNY's climax is so amateurish, it only worsens the whole experience. You just sit through it waiting for the end and trying to remember where you parked your car.
So in summary, should you watch WCNY? Take my advice. Have a good laugh by watching the trailer. If you really must see it, save your money and wait for WCNY to hit the TV channels. May be watched one time for the occasional funny parts.
3 stars out of 10, one being for the funny trailer.
One such SBGM was the 2010 political satire - Tere Bin Laden. A Pakistani news reporter, who in his desperation to migrate to the US, hatches up a money-making plan by making a fake Osama Bin Laden video and sells it to a news channel. The plan has unexpected cross-country repercussions, landing him and his entire motley crew of amateurs (including the false Bin Laden) in trouble. Put simply, TBL was a laugh riot. Great performances by the protagonist (Ali Zafar), his bumbling assistant (Nikhil Ratnaparkhi), the false Laden (Pradhuman Singh) - and almost everyone else. For me, TBL also established another important fact - that plots with seemingly impossible storylines can be made entertaining if made properly.
Hence it was with great expectation that I went to see "War Chhod na Yaar" in its first week of release. If you haven't heard of it, or if you don't know what the movie is all about - here's the trailer:
War Chhod na Yaar official theatrical trailer
Why did I have great expectations? First, the plot seemed as impossible as TBL, to make a satire on a historical rivalry between 2 nations. Second, it starred Sharman Joshi, Sanjay Mishra and Javed Jaffrey in lead roles - underrated actors with great comic timing (TBL never had any celebrated comic actors). Third, the trailer really made me laugh and was a sign of things to come.
Debutant director Faraz Haider tries to create a plot where rival soldiers on both sides of the fence are shown to have great camaraderie. They play Antakshari over loudspeakers, joke about each others' food, and generally get along like neighbors. He tries to show (rightfully so) that soldiers are merely human - it is the politicians and their vile motives that is responsible for war. In the end, the human spirit triumphs and the wrongdoers learn their lesson.
A great idea, completely disappointing in its execution. Firstly, there's no real screenplay. Haider seems to have simply come up with an idea for a story and then struggled to stretch it over a 2 hour run-time. As a result, short bursts of brilliant comedy are interspersed with long stretches of boring, mindless activity. Scenes which dazzle you with situational humor
are succeeded by scenes where the characters either resort to slapstick, Govinda-esque humor, or (worse) get into silly stuff like defacating on screen. Even the talented Jaffrey and Joshi struggle to find their feet as a result.
Secondly, satire does not mean your core characters act like buffoons. In WCNY, only the Indian army looks and acts like poster-boys. The Pakistan army is shown as a bunch of clueless idiots with a sick, delusional commander (Sanjay Mishra) at the helm. They beg to get fed well and new uniforms cause incurable itches. Dalip Tahil plays 4 politicians (Indian, Pakistani, Chinese and American - go figure) all of which are selfish idiots. The Pakistan Army commander plays video games, or chooses to visit the bathroom, when attending a diplomatic con-call. Mukul Dev plays an Afghan intruder - I'm sure a character brought in to just stretch the plot - who's repeated infiltration attempts gets spoiled by an Indian army spy like taking candy from a baby.
Thirdly, what is Soha Ali Khan doing in the movie? She plays a news reporter called Rut Dutta (thank you Faraz, we would have figured that Barkha is a Rut in Hindi) who gets sent to the front by a politician for covering imminent war. As she watches the camaraderie between the 2 sides and realizes who is really responsible, she takes it upon her to set things right. Sadly, she neither acts nor looks the part of a game-changer. We have had better performances from her in RDB and Mumbai Meri Jaan (ah, another SBGM close to my heart!).
Lastly, the ending is really tame. A lot of average movies have turned out extraordinary in the way the climax has been treated. WCNY's climax is so amateurish, it only worsens the whole experience. You just sit through it waiting for the end and trying to remember where you parked your car.
So in summary, should you watch WCNY? Take my advice. Have a good laugh by watching the trailer. If you really must see it, save your money and wait for WCNY to hit the TV channels. May be watched one time for the occasional funny parts.
3 stars out of 10, one being for the funny trailer.
