The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Silly to the core! FilM Review

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Sunday, Oct 25, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Silly to the core! FilM Review

Boman Irani in a still from the film

Film: Fruit & Nut

Cast: Cyrus Broacha, Dia Mirza, Mahesh Manjrekar, Boman Irani

Direction: Kunal Vijaykar

Absurdity has a place in creative domain. We haven’t seen much of it in Hindi cinema except for some ‘inspired’ attempts like “Bheja Fry”. Here actor-turned-director Kunal Vijaykar gives irrationality wings but fails to give it any direction. Nor does he try to base his farce on some stirring reality. Instead he has weaved a flurry of madcap comic situations around a flurry of moronic characters led by Jolly Maker (Cyrus Broacha).

Cyrus is a master at laughing at himself but Kunal has given him stock situations made for goofy characters in cinema. He fails to recognise colleague and dream girl Monica (Dia Mirza) simply because kidnappers had covered her mouth. And under pressure he leaks in his boss’ (Mahesh Manjrekar) cabin with ‘devastating’ results! Mahesh has been given the licence to ham without the bullets to tickle. He translates some dimwit Hindi dialogues in English with bombastic results.

Jolly gets trapped in a plot hatched by an ex-Maharaja of Mumbai, Holly Holkar (Boman Irani). The old man is running out of time but not zest. He wants his city back. He plots to bomb the Mantralaya because he believes that beneath the government headquarters is his palace. As part of some plot, the maharaja gets members of the heritage committee kidnapped one by one. First it is Monica (Dia Mirza) and then it is her builder boss (Mahesh). Somehow Jolly gets into this mess and makes a mockery of the lunatic ploy. Boman tries to be realistic in a funny tunic and a bizarre wig Dia brightens the proceedings and she is the only one who brings a semblance of logic amidst the mad rush. If the satire is about reclaiming the past glory of the city polluted by different forces in different times, it simply doesn’t hold. If the idea is to create theatre of the absurd, Camus will cringe in his grave.

It’s a fruit without a core, a nut ready to crack!

ANUJ KUMAR

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