Rating: **

BUNTY AUR BABLI

Producer: Aditya Chopra and Yash Raj Films
Director: Shaad Ali
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukherji, Raj Babbar, Rameshwari, Kiran Joneja Sippy, Punit Issar & Prem Chopra
Music: Shankar Ehsaan Loy
Lyrics: Gulzar


Reviewed by: Sangita Iyer

Bunty aur Babli is a product of Yash Raj films, one of the best production houses in Bollywood and directed by none other than Shaad Ali, director of Saathiya. An attempt at making a complete Masala entertainer, it’s a story of two ardent dreamers, Bunty and Babli inspired from Hollywood’s Bonnie and Clyde.

Rakesh Trivedi (Abhishek Bachchan) lives in rural Fursatganj and yearns to become rich and dreams of making newspaper headlines. He skips town after a confrontation with his father (Raj Babbar) to realize his dreams. Vimmi (Rani Mukherji) is a wannabe model who has run away from her parent’s home (Punit Issar & Kiran Joneja Sippy) for fear that they will get her married. However, after they fly the coop the two of them face some demoralizing encounters during their ventures but are not willing to give in. Fate brings them together somewhere along their individual expedition and that is when they decide to con the world at its own game. The duo calls themselves Bunty and Babli and Bunty is none other than Rakesh’s fantasy waiting to be unleashed whereas Babli is the unwilling Vimmi who finally puts her best foot forward to begin a new journey. Thus are born Bunty and Babli, two crooks who will stop at nothing. Soon the energetic duo is on the most wanted list of the police. That’s when Big B makes a splash at intermission as DCP Dashrath Singh, an eccentric cop who intends to capture Bunty and Babli by hook or by crook. Is he successful in his mission??

Bunty aur Babli is a perfect illustration of a glossy idea gone matt due to several reasons. A comedy flick with two cons on the run could have been side-splitting especially when you consider the big names in the line up like Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherji. Unfortuantely the script is not gripping and does not include full-blown methods the duo uses to con the world in the pre interval segment of the movie; instead it’s just a hodgepodge of scenes that are shown with the title song playing in the background. The much awaited father-son face off on screen comes post interval, which is hardly mesmerizing. Let’s not forget about the totally hyped Qawali number with the Bachchans and Aishwarya Rai which turns out to be a major disappointment. The UP accent is not maintained constantly all through the movie, it kinda comes and goes. On the positive side, the scene where they con a foreigner in believing that the Taj Mahal is for sale and the climax scene at the airport are the two best scenes in the movie which are performed well by the duo. On screen chemistry between Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherji is undeniably positive and probably the only saving grace of the movie. Music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy is average with Dhadak Dhadak topping the list. Dialogues by Jaideep Sahni are simply not impressive. All in all, Bunty aur Babli is not as amusing as it was anticipated to be, although it’s worth a watch for most.

I give it **

Cheers

Sangita.

Here’s how I rate them:

* - A bummer, skip this one
** - A popcorn movie, viewable but flawed
*** - A good movie, gives you your money’s worth
**** - A near perfection, highly recommendable movie
***** - A rarity! Knock your socks off kind of a movie