Krazzy 4 Movie Review: A Tepid Comedy

The buzz over producer Rakesh Roshan's Krazzy 4 started much before the film's release. First, there was the hype created around the item numbers, which had Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Rakhi Sawant. Then of course there was the war over plagiarism which hit the Roshans. One is glad that they were able to release the film with the item numbers intact, as they are definitely the star attraction of the film. Having said that, Krazzy 4 directed by debutant Jaideep Sen is a film which had the potential to become a rocking comedy but falters somewhat as it fails to capitalize fully on its comic premise. It turns out to be an average film which is unfortunate as some of the industry's best actors, like Irrfan Khan and Rajpal Yadav are a part of the movie and one expects them to hit sixers from the moment they appear on screen, or something close to that.

The actors in themselves are quite flawless in their performance. It is the film's script which does not give them any meat to sink their teeth in. Situations could have been exploited further to generate more laughter, or so one feels. The message of the film about there being more dangerous loonies in the outside world than in the lunatic asylum apart, the film actually blunders its way through to the end. The story of the film, in short, is about four loonies, Raja (Arshad Warsi), Dr Chowdhury (Irrfan Khan), Gangadhar (Rajpal Yadav) and Daboo (Suresh Menon) and their loving doctor, psychiatrist, Dr Sonali (Juhi Chawla). The good doctor believes in treating her patients with love and understanding. Thinking that they will benefit from their interaction with the outer world, she decides to take them out to watch a cricket match between India and England on the occasion of India's Independence Day. But on the way to the match, she is kidnapped, by her own husband, a politician played by (Rajat Kapur). Left all alone in this big bad world, the crazy four set off to rescue their doctor. Each of the four, suffers from a kind of a disorder. While Raja has an explosive temper, Dr Chowdhury suffers from an obsessive compulsive disorder and has a fetish for cleanliness. The third, Gangadhar, is stuck in a time warp, where he is a freedom fighter in the company of Mahatma Gandhi and Nehru. The fourth is Dabbo (Suresh Menon), who is perpetually scared and never speaks. In their quest to rescue their doctor, the crazy four take on the ?sane' outer world and exposes them.

The endearing quality about the movie is actually these four characters, who operate from the heart, and ironically seem saner than the so called normal majority. Being such talented actors, Irrfan and Rajpal, specially, manage to infuse their characters with an endearing quality. And the result is that they do manage to move and touch you in places. But there is just so much that a few good actors can do. Their valiant efforts are, however, not good enough to make this a great film. The basic premise of the film is great and provides a perfect take off point for the director and the film. But the film never takes flight, despite having such a lot going for it. Besides the crazy four, the other actors in the film like Juhi Chawla, Rajat, Diya Mirza and Zakir Hussain make the best of what has been given to them.

In the end, Krazzy 4 turns out to be comedy which is not funny enough. The general tenor of the humour verges on the slapstick mostly. Hence there is little that is clever or smart. The story written by Ashwini Dheer, fails to fall into place as a film. The highlight of the film is definitely SRK and Hrithik and their dance numbers. There is too little of Hrithik, but whatever little there is, is a sheer treat to watch. SRK is charismatic as always. The music of the film really works where these two items numbers are concerned. There are a couple of other songs which work well with the situation too. But it is definitely the title track which one carries home.

Jaideep Sen and his film's intentions are noble, but the execution does not match up. The film has its moments ? full credit to his actors for that but they are too few and not enough to salvage the movie.