Pagalpanti Movie Review: A Decent No-Brainer

After the success of Mubarakan, Anees Bazmee is back with another multi-starrer comedy and just like his previous movies this one too is a no-brainer.

Raj Kishore, Chandu and Chunky are three friends and are considered ‘panauti’ by everyone who knows them. In fact, they are so jinxed that not only do they tank every business that they try their hands at, they also destroy whoever invests in their businesses.

Then they meet a don in London called Raja and his brother-in-law Wi-fi. As soon as they meet the trio, Wifi and Raja also run out of luck and go bankrupt. Their boss Neeraj Modi gets after their lives to recover his money and what happens then forms the rest of the plot.

It’s an Aneez Bazmee film titled Pagalpanti and thus, if you are going to the theater expecting it to be some meaningful cinema, that would be sheer pagalpanti. The film doesn’t even claim to be intelligent cinema; it is a light comedy and you get what you see.  Leave your brains at home and you will enjoy this film. As John says in the movie ‘Har cheez ka koi matlab ho ye zaruri nahi’ so, don’t go about finding sense in this one.

John Abraham is playing Raj Kishore and it’s refreshing to see this good-looking actor in a comedy film after a long time. Pulkit Samrat and Arshad Warsi are okay in their roles and Saurabh Shukla is good as Raja. Anil Kapoor is his usual flamboyant self as Wi-Fi but his flashy and loud don character is repetitive as we have seen him doing something very similar in Welcome as Majnu Bhai.

The film also stars Ileana D’Cruz, Kriti Kharbanda and Urvashi Rautela. Ileana is fine in her role but Kriti’s dumb doll act is quite annoying and Urvashi Rautela and her pout have overacted like no tomorrow. Inaamulhaq has played Neeraj Modi and it’s quite obvious that his character is inspired by fugitive businessman Nirav Modi. His character is quite caricaturish but he is funny.

pagalpanti

The story has no head or tail and while you do get irritated initially, eventually you start enjoying this no-brainer.  It entertains you and makes you laugh however, the second half is very weak. Climax has been stretched a lot and by adding deshbhakti, lions and what not, the makers have marred the flavour of the film. Other than that it’s watchable.

I wish there were no songs as they only make the film longer without adding any value to the narrative. Cinematography is good and the entire film has been shot in London.

If you enjoy watching films like Housefull, you will love this one.