Director: Shuja Ali
Cast: Gulshan Grover and Ali Fazal (in a double role), Amrita Raichand, Anisa
Mumbai: A few days ago the producers of this film had released a press communication that stated ‘Gulshan Grover to perform an item number.’ Before that they had circulated another piece of supposedly spicy news that the Bollywood’s famous Bad Man was kissing another man in this film. Incidentally Grover has a double role in the film and one of the roles he plays is that of a gay choreographer. There is no item number and no chumma-voomma in this film, not even between its lead romantic pair. The truth is there is pretty much very little in this film for you to sit through it. That explains why the producers resorted to desperate measures of publicity to keep their film in the news.
To cut a chaotic story short. Kabir (Ali Fazal) is in love with Rachna in this supposed to be romantic comedy. So he must win the heart of her brother Professor Laxmi Nivas (Gulshan Grover) to get her hand in marriage. Then there is some limp Don (an irritating Razzak Khan) who looks at the Mumbai skyline and dreams of becoming some sort of real estate king. He hires goon Rasiya Bihari (Ali Fazal in a double role) to ensure Professor Laxmi Nivas vacates his bungalow. Rasiya is once again hired to scare a gay choreographer Debu Daruwala (Gulshan Grover in a double role) to vacate his bungalow. Debu Daruwala is no ordinary choreographer. He teaches a fusion of Salsa and Kathak at his Fusion Studio. Shiamak Davar, Prabhu Deva and Farha Khan have all been his students at some point. Even a point like this is not exploited for any further zany moments.
The story seems okay to the point of the interval where Kabir is trying to impress his girlfriend’s elder brother under the guise of being a research student named Khokha. Ali Fazal does this part with endearingly natural ease. No sooner his real identity revealed, everything in this supposed to be rom-com goes downhill. The comic situations that should arise from the two cases of mistaken identities is not only unoriginal but are so done to death before that they seem like a drag in the second half. Just imagine Debu giving you a demo of his kathak and Salsa fusion dance. Could have been a hilarious high point but it is not explored by the writer or director of this film. The gay choreographer bit as expected is a caricature that you have seen before. The tapori-mawaali character played by Ali Fazal is nothing new either but Ali Fazal still manages to shine, proving that he is an upcoming talent to watch out for. While Grover is credible and earnest as the philosophy professor, the part of the gay choreographer is too sketchily written for him to do anything at all with it.
The rest of the supporting characters are mostly of the cardboard variety you have seen before – a pair of dumb henchmen of the don, an even dumber domestic servant, some Panditji who is also a part-time tattoo artist. It’s difficult to remember even one genuinely funny line except for a stray – ‘woh auto pakadne gaya hai, aajkal milte nahin hai.’
There is so much confusion in this comedy of errors that the film’s characters are mouthing lines such as “yeh kya ho raha hai, mujhe kuch samajh nahin aa raha, it’s getting complicated.” Exactly how you feel while watching Baat Bann Gayi! The end credits roll to say a film by Shuja Ali and team while you are thinking baat kuch bani nahi.
