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Saturday, October 5, 2024
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BOLLYWOOD BOL BACHCHAN
EDITOR'S PICK
`Bol
Bachchan`: A modern day `Golmaal`
Rating:***
Like that cute little boy who holds his father`s face in both his hands to get
attention, "Bol Bachchan" just doesn`t let go. Its relentless quest
for a rolicking time is infectious. The comic confusions are put forward with a
giggly gusto. You can see the team had a great time shooting this subverted
version of a 1979 comic classic.
Hrishikesh Mukherjee would be unable to recognize this version of his comedy `Golmaal`
on which Bol Bachchan is based. Hell, he might have even sued for subversion of
his creative property. But then, he always loved the Bachchan family. And there
are the two Bachchans in the film - Abhishek Bachchan and his likeable comic
partner Krushna Abhishek. No, make that 3. At the very start the senior-most
Bachchan, the Big B himself, makes a gracious song-and-dance appearance where
the director Rohit Shetty lets us know he loves the Bachchans.
In one way or another.
The film casts Abhishek Bachchan in a double role of Abbas and his doppelganger
double Abhishek Bachchan. Yes, that`s the name given to Abhishek`s character
when he comes face-to-face with the village head-honcho Ajay Devgn, a kind of
benign mukhia who is goofy and rather dumb, so dumb that he actually believes
the on-screen Abhishek Bachchan`s cock-and-bull story about how his parents
named him as such because they were big fans of Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan.
Right.
Devgn`s character, a not-so-gentlemix of a pehelwaan and Anil Kapoor in Virasat
is as far removed from its origins, namely Utpal Dutt in Golmaal, as Archana
Puransingh is from Dina Pathak. The former steps into the latter`s role with the
kind of defiant toss of her head and bosom that makes the transition more of a
humorous takeoff than a homage.
Indeed, some of the funniest scenes in this fair comic romp into Hrishida`s
backyard feature the excellent Ms Puransingh.
The tongue-in-cheek tribute to the original film is quite often so cocky it
makes you wince. Rohit Shetty has stripped away the gentle amiable wit of
Hrishikesh Mukherjee and replaced it with a raw and ripe humour that takes
swipes at anything that comes in the way of the satire.
Yes, the original featuring Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt plays on television in a
sequence. And there`s a play being staged in Rohit Shetty`s imaginary village
where two actors impersonating Dutt and Palekar enact the original film.
That is as close as we get to Hrishikesh Mukherjee in this punk-parody of the
original comedy.
Valiantly, the dramatic tension in the comedy is based on a communal divide. The
hero Abbas has to invent a Hindu phantom-double to avoid a religious backlash.
Unusually for a comedy, the filmkeeps making sharp stinging remarks on the
communal issue without causing offence. In one specially audacious sequence, the
film`s writer targets two minority communities, the Muslims and gays, in the
same range of vision without tripping over.
Now, that`s no mean achievement.
The cute Prachi Desai playing Devgn`s kid-sister remarks that some of our
biggest names like Abdul Kalaam and Shah Rukh khan are "like that".
Devgn has the other minority community in mind.
Bol Bachchan dares to carry its sense of fun to an extreme of playfulness
without toppling over into crassness. It takes on the scared cows without
putting its feet in the cow poo. The elderly are often a brunt of ridicule in
the plot. But again, no offence meant. Asrani`s rapport with his screen-son is
truly funny.
However what doesn`t work is the enforced action sequences where just to
simulate a climax in the trademark Rohit Shetty style, cars leap into the air,
buses crash into windows - Shetty`s stunts are becoming predictable in their
execution. A change is needed there.
What works are the performances. Ajay Devgn as the endearing bully is in top
form. His mongrelized use of the English language is the cheekiest subversion of
the original film`s content. In Hrishida`s Golmaal Utpal Dutt spoke only the
purest form of Hindi.
Abhishek Bachchan pulls off the double role with the right blend of the subtle
and the saucy. This is his second film after Dostana where he has to impersonate
homosexuality.
Abhishek is dead-on.
A special word for Abhishek Krushna and Archana Puransingh who provide plenty of
chuckles with their comic timing.
Hrishida may not approve. But this is Golmaal without the innocence of those
times.And that`s the way we like it.
Actress Prachi Desai, who has completed a decade in the Hindi film industry, says Bollywood does give due and credit to everyone at some point.Read More
Midnight release for 'Bol Bachchan' in GujaratRohit Shetty has a gift for all movie buffs in Gujarat. The director has decided to release his new film "Bol Bachchan" Read More
`Bol Bachchan` offers loads of humorous, fun (IANS Preview)
Rib-tickling scenes, funny dialogues
and Ajay Devgn`s witty one-liners - Rohit Shetty`s Bol Bachchan
offers all this and promises much more entertainment when it hits the screens
Friday.
After churning out films like Golmaal, Golmaal Returns,
Golmaal 3 and Singham, once again Shetty`s is ready to
take audience on another laughter ride with Bol Bachchan.
Said to be inspired by 1979 movie Gol Maal, the film has Abhishek
Bachchan, Asin Thottumkal, and Prachi Desai in the female leads.
The story revolves around Abbas Ali (Abhishek), a resident of Karol Bagh, New
Delhi. He stays there with his sister Sania (Asin) and they are legally fighting
to get the title of their ancestral property.
But the odds turn against them and they lose the case. Their well-wisher,
Shastri Chacha, advises and convinces them to migrate to his village Ranakpur
and assures Abbas that he will get him a job at his owner`s place. The owner
being none other than the powerful Prithviraj Raghuvanshi (Ajay).
In Ranakpur, while saving a child trapped inside a temple, Abbas breaks open the
lock of an ancestral temple. It upsets the villagers and they are up in arm
against Abbas, but Prithviraj arrives at the scene and bails Abbas out.
On being asked his name, Abbas`s friend comes out with a fake name because he
knew that the villagers will be outraged if they will find out that the lock of
the temple has been broken by a Muslim guy.
From here starts a series of cover-ups, goof-ups and comic situations where to
cover one lie, Abbas pads it up with a bigger lie that he has a twin brother
with no moustache. This leads to topsy-turvy journey of a single person acting
as two different entities.
Bol Bachchan has been co-produced by Dhillin Mehta and Ajay.
Shetty has roped in megastar Amitabh Bachchan for promotional song Bol Bol
Bachchan. In the song, the 69-year-old recreated the iconic song My
name is Anthony Gonsalves and pops out of a life-sized egg.
Premier of the film Bol Bachan Stills