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Wednesday, April 24, 2024
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BOLLYWOOD I M 24
EDITOR'S PICK
`I
M 24` - an internet rom-com worth a watch
Rating: ***
This team of intelligent cinema-savvy actors and technicians has been making
urbane comedies for many years now. Some have worked at the box office. Most
have not. But there`s no denying the suave smooth-sailing charm of the
narration, as we glide through one more metro-centric saga of warmth during
times of loneliness.
Rightaway, director Saurabh Shukla, who also plays with relish, an obscenely
over-the-top film producer, introduces us to the film`s protagonist, a
struggling bald writer Shubendu (Rajat Kapoor) and his struggling-actor flatmate
Gagan (Ranvir Shorey).
A portrait in contrasts, physically, intellectually and morally, Shubendu and
Gagan are played with such innate conviction and charm by the two actors that we
barely notice how much these characters owe to the Hollywood tradition of
contrasting men sharing roof and lives in a hostile city where desolation is not
an option, it`s a given. Deal with it, or perish.
The girls, the very charming Neha Dhupia and the surprisingly in-character
Manjari Phadnis (her last remarkable performance was in `Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane
Na` as Rajat Kapoor`s daughter frozen in a state of emotional denial), slip into
the film with stealthy stilettos, creating for themselves a space in the boys`
story without displacing the drama of desolation that runs through the plot.
While Ranvir Shorey happily takes the backseat, the core of the plot, a
brilliant Mumbai fable with characters who resemble real persons without losing
their cinematic edginess, is devoted to developing the Rajat-Manjari
relationship which starts on the internet and moves uneasily into a personal
one-to-one, which threatens to turn messy.
Since "I M 24" is set in the Mumbai film industry (thankfully, no one
calls it Bollywood in Saurabh`s film), there are some saucy references to Hindi
cinema and filmmakers. In an exchange with Manjari, Rajat Kapoor playing the
writer to the hilt, boasts that he wrote "Devdas" for Sanjay Leela
Bhansali who, improvises Kapoor, wanted a departure from Sarat Chandra
Chatterjee, and Rajat gave it to him.
Even saucier is the sequence where Ranvir berates Rajat for mentioning the film
"Mujhse Dosti Karoge" among the films that he feigns to have written
to impress Manjari.
The joke is, "I M 24" is at core an internet romance, just like Kunal
Kohli`s "Mujhse Dosti Karoge". If you look closely, you`ll come across
several such delectable inhouse jokes, including a beefcake actor (Karan Singh
Grover), who throws a fit when the struggling actress Neha Dhupia asks about his
wife and children.
Shukla`s screenplay balances out these unsuccessful elements at the fringes of
Bollywood. The script even squeezes in a rather hilarious encounter between a
mafioso`s timid money-collector (Vijay Raaz, as straightfaced and glum in his
humour as ever), who is petrified of the producer`s aggressive sister (Lilette
Dubey) and seeks advice and solace from the producer`s secretary (Delnaaz Paul).
The vast network of Shukla`s characters sit with remarkable lightness over the
script. These are solidly talented actors playing fringe characters whom they
closely identify with. The actors imbue a bedrock believability to this
bitter-sweet Bollywood rom-com.
"I M 24" has some sparkling moments of reflected glory, as a bald and
bland writer Rajat Kapoor takes lessons in spunky living and convincing
bullshitting from his flamboyant flatmate. What `lies` underneath is a likeable
well-crafted rom-com with many moments when the cast seems to be having a ball.
Watch Ranvir groove to R.D.Burman`s "Do labzon ki hai yeh dil ki kahani",
and you`ll know what I mean.
Worth watching.
Saying the truth was always difficult, and lying, they say, is much simpler. Shubendu lives by the tougher option. But when this honest, 42 year old balding writer falls in love with a 22 year old beauty queen, he is tempted to lie. What’s more, his jerk of a roommate, Gagan, who swears by the magic of lies, helps him cook up stories. What follows is a hilarious ride of lies, cover-ups, goof-ups and contradicting tales. Shubendu begins enjoying this ride. Why didn’t he know that lying was so much fun?! But at some point, the madness has got to stop. The question is: When?
This Saurabh Shukla directed romantic comedy will touch all hearts, both young and old.
