Shootout At Lokhandwala: Not as exciting as reality

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Raqeeb: Tale of twists and turns

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Thank God it's Friday!

The trailers were funny and promised something different.

Rajat Kapoor is the owner of a music company and like all his friends works hard the whole week before meeting for the dinner on Friday. This is their stress buster. Not the food but the talent that accompanies each of them. The ‘talent’ is a person who does something funny. The friends judge the ‘talents’ and the winner is the one who makes them laugh the most. And these ‘talents’ perform all this while thinking they are in fact appreciated.

Vinay Pathak is a wannabe singer who meets Rajat Kapoor through one of Kapoor’s friends. And Kapoor decides that Vinay would be his talent for the next Friday.

Sarika is Kapoor’s wife and a singer who is not quite pleased with her husband’s Friday adventures. And Milind Soman is her ex- husband and Kapoor’s ex-friend. They are no longer friends as Kapoor steals Milind’s wife!

The fun begins when Kapoor invites Bharat Bhusan played by Vinay to his place before they go out to dinner. And then Kapoor hurts his back so bad that he can’t really make it to the dinner and gets stuck with Vinay in his house. What follows after that is sheer madness. Vinay’s enthusiasm and Kapoor’s endurance while they try to solve problems that has suddenly fallen on to Kapoor is hilarious.

Vinay’s portrayal of a person who is an idiot who is very ever-enthusiastic and ever ready to help people is superb. He draws in laughter with his delivery and expression. And Kapoor is no less. The duo combine to deliver a powerhouse performance. Milind Soman surely has improved on his acting and Sarika was effective as a loving yet dejected wife. The entry of Ranvir Shorey brings in cheer. As an honest income tax officer who had even raided his own house once, Ranvir is brilliant.

Although other aspects of the film are fine, this movie basically rides on the performances and script. A small budget movie, no big starts involved, no foreign locales, and no action to grab eyeballs and yet it has the power to make you stay put in your seat through the two hours. This one is a commendable effort from Sagar Ballary and no wonder had every in splits in the theatre. It’s dil khush with Bheja Fry. Yummy!