This 'Joke' Is Silly Yet Funny At Times...

Joker Review In Short
An Indian scientist comes up with an elaborate alien hoax to bring development to his remote native place.


Joker Review Verdict
Shirish Kunder's flick is downright silly and predictable but does make you laugh at some places...
 

Joker Review Story Plot
Paglapur was a remote village in North India, which housed the country's biggest mental asylum. When the map of India was being created on the eve of Independence, the British surveyor decided to not venture in the village after hearing reports that the asylum patients have broken out and taken control of the village. As a result, the village was nowhere on the map of this country...

Now, many years later, Agastya (Akshay Kumar), a native of Paglapur, who studied to become a scientist in the US, has returned back with his lover Diva (Sonakshi Sinha) to take care of his ailing father. On getting to know that the village is still under-developed, Agastya embarks upon a plan to create an elaborate hoax involving alien landings and crop circles, with the purpose of drawing the attention of the media and highlighting the plight of the remote village. How this hoax snowballs into a bigger incident forms the rest of the story...


Joker Review Performances
This reviewer is personally a fan of Akshay Kumar and his special brand of smart alec humour and so was a tad disappointed to see the Khiladi play the role of a straight arrow scientist, who is compelled to cook up a hoax. Kunder could have surely made the character a bit more mischievous and cheeky enough, without which Agastya seems quite boring and one-dimensional. Sonakshi Sinha, who plays Diva, the love interest of Agastya, seems determined to play the 'dumb blonde' role to perfection and actually manages to irritate one with her 'duh' persona. Same goes for Shreyas Talpade, who plays Agastya's brother Babban and seems a retarded version of Tusshar Kapoor's Golmaal character. Minissha Lamba, who plays a TV journalist, is seen in a 'blink and miss' role and doesn't get to do much but pout and look pretty...the rest of the cast, however, has put in a passable performance...


Joker Review Direction
Maybe it has to do with the trailers of the film, which were unveiled sometime back, but the story of Joker doesn't really come as a surprise. The plot, about a scientist, who comes up with a hoax to draw public attention, is something that the audience already knew from the trailers, so there is no surprise element as such (except for the climax, but again, that is something quite predictable). Apart from that, Kunder does indulge in a lot of silly humour, which fortunately, makes you laugh at times as some of the gags are quite funny, though the overall effect is not that impressive. Thankfully, the movie is short enough, which is something that Kunder deserves kudos for...


Joker Review Music
Except for the title track Joker and the foot-tapping Kaafirana number featured on the sensuous Chitrangda Singh, the music of the film is not really worth remembering...


Joker Review Final Word
All in all, Joker is not a bad movie as such, though going to watch the flick with a lot of expectations might not be a wise idea at all...

Joker - Situational And Fun

Joker is one of the most talked about movies of the year. Keeping in mind that it is an Akshay Kumar movie, there are a lot of expectations, more so since music has always been a strong point in his films. In case of 'Joker' they are only all the more since the movie is directed by Shirish Kunder who had ensured some good music for his debut directorial outing Jaan-E-Mann. To fulfill these expectations, G V Prakash Kumar (nephew of A R Rehman) has been the chosen one for the music composition while Shirish himself has penned the lyrics.

Album kicks-tarts on a high note with a song titled Kaifirana that sets the mood right away. Song is currently being played across all entertainment channels and marks an introduction of Chitrangda Singh in an item number. Musically, this guest composition by Gaurav Dagaonkar does grow on the listener and is already a reasonable hit. It is sung by none other then Sunidhi Chauhan who has done full justice to the song in her affective and buoyant voice. The beats and lively atmosphere created by the composer alsolift the spirits and heighten the effect of the song.

Udit Narayan makes a comeback and throws a pleasant surprise with the next track Jugnu. It is a motivational track which required an honest voice, and his voice does suit the genre. However, song lacks the punch and leaves the listener desiring for more. With better lyrics andcomposition, the song could have been an anthem, just like Yeh Tara [Swades]. However it fails to do so and ends up being an average track. Hopefully thepicturisation would elevate the song.

Album moves forward with Singh Raja. It's a folk based track with techno music in the background. Sung by Daler Mehndi along with Sonu Kakkar, the song moves ahead on a riotous note even though the lyrics are very pedantic and ordinary. Still, the composition is catchy with a flute in the background doing the trick, hence ensuring that the song would definitely on stay with the listener for some time to come.

Meanwhile Yeh Joker is an upbeat and lively track in the album. Sung by Sonu Nigam and Shweta Pandit, it's a theme based song which introduces the central element of the film to the audience. Lyrics are very colloquial and suit the music and accentuate the atmosphere created by the composition. Sonu Nigam has been able to add his signature style to thesong which reminds one of his previous hits.

Album concludes with two instrumental tracks, both of which are situation based and should have a good role to play in the movie. Tears of Joker leads the way where G V Prakash manages to touch one's heart with his soulful composition. He changes the mood in his next instrumental Alien Arrival. It's an upbeat and high impact instrumental, which does its assigned job of introducing the aliens (and perhaps the Joker too)!

All in all, music of the movie is situation based and one would have to wait to see the full effect of the same in the movie. Some of the tracks are upbeat, loud and have the fun element, which the movie requires. However, one would agree that a few could have been better as they fall short of becoming a hit, hence making Joker a mixed bag. Still, all said and done this is a Khiladi movie which means one can expect some pleasant surprises in terms of the picturisation (courtesy Kunder) and the fun element (coming in due to Farah Khan's choreography).