Firangi Movie Review: An Average Entertainer

Funnyman Kapil Sharma made his Bollywood debut with Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon in 2015, which was a moderate entertainer and encouraged by this, Kapil is back on the silver screen with his latest offering Firangi, which has been produced by him too. But does Kapil manage to impress us this time? Read on… Set in a small village in Punjab during the pre-Independence Era, Firangi revolves around Manga (Kapil Sharma), who has a God-given gift to straighten cramped backs with a well-placed kick. Though Manga is quite sought after for this talent, his father considers him a good-for-nothing fellow, especially because he consistently fails to crack the police exams and get a job. When Manga straightens the back of British officer Mark Daniels (Edward Sonnenblick), the ‘grateful gora’ offers him a job as an orderly, which makes Manga believe that his dreams of marrying the love of his life Sargi (Ishita Dutta) will finally come true. But tragedy strikes when Daniels and the local ruler Raja Indraveer Singh (Kumud Mishra) collude to grab the land on which Sargi’s village is located, in order to construct a liquor factory. It is now up to Manga (who is accused of being the enemy by the villagers because of his job as a British Government employee) to step in and save the day. How Manga manages to do this forms the rest of the plot… As Manga, Kapil Sharma is earnest enough, though it is tough to accept him as an all-rounder hero, who can romance the heroine and fight off bad guys et al. Maybe, it’s because we are used to seeing Kapil being a comedy actor, but nevertheless, Kapil has put in efforts for sure. Ishita, who plays his ladylove Sargi, doesn’t get much to do except for blushing or weeping when things don’t go her way. Edward has the tough job of playing a Brit officer and yet not coming across as a stereotypical ‘angrez’ baddie in a pre-Independence era film, but he manages to do it admirably whereas Monica Gill, Rajesh Sharma, Anjan Srivastava, Inaamulhaq and Kumud Mishra, have performed decently. While the plot of the film is not bad as such and could cause a few guffaws, I can’t see myself coughing out 200 bucks to watch it at a cinema hall. The humour, though not bad, is not of the level that we have come to expect from someone like Kapil Sharma and viewers with high expectations may get disappointed. Another complaint we have with the film is the extra-long second half with an elaborate chase sequence and a climax, which is devoid of any thrills or a ‘feel good factor’. In conclusion, Firangi is an average entertainer at best…