Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Pooja Salvi, Gaelyn Mendonca
Director: Rohan Sippy
KATHMANDU, April 14: The first noticeable thing about ‘Nautanki Saala!’ is how beautiful Mumbai looks. For those of us who’s only been seeing Mumbai’s slums and a few high rise buildings in the movies, it was a few minutes into the film before one could accept that it was actually Mumbai. Apparently it was shot in the southern side of the city and looks very quiet and pleasing. The view from Ayushman’s apartment is pretty charming and there are clean paved sidewalks lined with trees that make the viewer wish to live there. [break]
As the film’s credit begins rolling in the beginning, we notice that it says it’s based on a French film, ‘Apres Vous’. We also notice a lot of familiar but hard to place faces in the film, like MTV VJ Gaelyn Mendonca, Pooja Salvi and Kunaal Roy Kapur.
Ayushmann Khurrana is Ram Parmar or RP, a man whose ‘weakness’ is to help others. The theatre director and actor RP lives with his girlfriend, Chitra, (Gaelyn) and is on his way to her birthday when he sees a man trying to take his own life. Mandar Lele (Kunaal) is a man low on confidence and has no reason to live. RP saves his life, takes him in and attempts to rally his spirits to a new high. The film takes us along the journey where RP’s general soft heartedness and Mandar’s declining sense of purpose collide. There is a lot of drama as RP sets off to find Nandini (Pooja Salvi) and reunite her with Mandar.
Most of the characters came off as exasperating; Mandar is a clumsy soul whose wallowing in self pity seems drawn too long. Nandini is a weak woman who can’t seem to wave off a cheating fiancée and admits to being scared of being lonely and RP simply needs to learn to say no. Also, Chitra disappears for a bit in the film and that is strange given the fact that she and RP have recently gotten engaged. However, the film is fun to watch. There is humor and playfulness and the protagonists do their job well.
The film has a nice soundtrack and two songs by Ayushmann, who’s still riding high on the success of ‘Vicky Donor’. ‘Sadi Gali Aaja’ and ‘Tu Hi Tu’ are romantic numbers that are definitely hummable. There is a cameo by Abhishek Bachchan, a gimmick by director Sippy, but ‘Nautanki Saala!’ can stand on its own.
Screening at QFX Cinemas.
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