Sunday Movie Review: An Entertaining Comic-Thriller

There has been a spurt in comic fare in Hindi movies in recent times, and unfortunately not all of it has been the intelligent variety or worth having a laugh about. But Rohit Shetty?s Sunday, with a stellar cast of performers like Ajay Devgan, Irrfan Khan, Arshad Warsi and Ayesha Takia, does manage to keep one fully entertained. Shetty, who has made Golmaal earlier, comes back with a comic-thriller, if one can call it that, in Sunday. The film has an interesting plot and moves at a fairly decent pace in most instances to give a film that is smart and springs a few surprises along the way.

The film?s story revolves around a young bubbly, dubbing artiste Ayesha (Saher), who parties one night with major repercussions. A naturally forgetful person, she sleeps off the entire Sunday after the party and only gets up on Monday, with absolutely no memory of the lost Sunday. That, of course, is not the real problem. The problem arises when that fateful night saw a bizarre sequence of events take place, beginning with a murder. Saher?s life turns topsy-turvy when she has goons baying for blood, a cabbie, who first thinks that she is a ghost, and when convinced she is not, asks her for Rs 420 in fare. Making matters worse is the fact that she cannot remember anything that happened after the party. This is when supercop, ACP Rajveer (Devgan) enters her life along with his assistant played by Mukesh Tiwari. The cop unravels the mystery behind that missing Sunday along with the cabbie (Arshad.Warsi) and his wannabe actor friend, played by Irrfan. The supercop and his assistant, with their quirky methods, start fitting the jigsaw into place to solve the mystery, which is slightly off the usual Hindi film type.

In the first half of the film, Shetty takes his time to establish all his characters, but the second half moves at a much more rapid and engrossing pace. More than the plot of the film, it is the characters that people the film, which make it endearing. So kudos to actors like Warsi and Irrfan, who manage to flesh out their roles and make the most of what they have. They are probably the most entertaining thing about the film. Of course, it being a Hindi film, one has to allow for a certain amount of licence, where one?s credibility meter is stretched. Picture this: a red ambassador cruising down the lanes of Delhi, passing of for a cab. To top it, this is one cab which is never empty. Arshad?s cab always has his chum, the wannabe actor sitting at the back, and he is still picking up customers. What makes Arshad?s character endearing and comical is the fact that he is a serious guy in the movie trying to make his living and pay for his kidney operation. But it is what he does, how he does it and what he says that makes him a funny character in the movie. The character of the struggling actor by Irrfan, is always seen in some costume attire or the other, but never actually lands up at any audition. But this very talented duo steals the show from the others. In fact, it would be no idle boast to say that Arshad Warsi and Irrfan Khan walk away with the film. They are masters of their craft and the little nuances that they work into their roles is quite praiseworthy.

The romantic angle falls a little weak in this film as there is not much chemistry happening between Ayesha and Devgan. But one cannot fault Devgan for not trying. He plays it cool as a hafta-grabbing ACP, licking an ice-cream cone before he proceeds to decimate the opposition. He loses his heart to Saher and goes all out to prove her innocent of any crime on that missing Sunday. Devgan gives a laid-back approach to his character, but it works well for this film. Mukesh Tiwari is a revelation in the role of ACP?s sidekick. While much has been said and written about Ayesha Takia?s talent, she is probably the weakest link in the cast. Even her look in the film, one feels, needs to be jazzed up. She just kind of fades into the action instead of standing out like all the other characters do.

Sunday?s music is just about passable. The film has the typical item number as well, performed by none other Esha Deol. This comes at the fag end of the film, just when the mystery is being unraveled. There are a couple of other numbers in the film as well, but none of them really make an impression.

But the selling point of this film is its unique plot, which has been executed well by the director and the actors. Rohit Shetty?s Sunday delivers on its promise of being an entertaining film.