Unforced errors of comedy

mr ya miss

Director: Antara Mali/ Satchit Puranik Cast: Antara Mali, Aftab Shivdasani, Ritiesh Deshmukh, Divya Dutta, Bharat Dabholkar

4.5/10

Touted as a story written and directed by Antara Mali (it happens only in Ram Gopal Varma’s Factory), it’s unwittingly funny to find that the official brochure doesn’t credit any story writer (the “dialouges” ? sic ?are by one Raghuveer Shekhawat), and that Antara shares the directorial baton with Satchit Puranik (the baton being the oblique mark, indicative of the title of the film, Mr Ya Miss).

The idea seems a yawn, but it isn’t quite a rehash of man in drag like Chachi 420. Nor is it a woman with too many male hormones like Ishaa Koppikar’s take of the paan- and gaali-spitting female constable, Urmila Martodkar (Kya Kool Hai Hum). This one shows you how a woman-disrespecting incorrigible Casanova cops it, goes to heaven (for God’s sake, why heaven?), and is sent back packing by the hen-pecked Shiva and his wife who wears the pants in Kailash, Parvati), as a woman to let him know just how it feels to wear the panties instead. And exactly where it pinches. Again, it looks like one of those films that show the gods come down to earth and check out the modern age, hi there, what’s goin’ on, Hari Om. But the heavenly pair is just shown hitting the Casanova balls back over the dharti like Devta was Dhoni.

Why doesn’t the gender bend it like Beckham then? The death comes too quickly, and though Antara deglams her face (which couldn’t have taken too much to do, anyway) and acts the man/woman pretty well, it’s often over-the-top. Yet, the film itself is not too slapstick and stops short of being vulgar, but the David Dhawan pace sags much too quickly and Antara goes into unforced errors of comedy, much like Sania Mirza in the tennis courts.

Anil Grover

Fails to deliver

home delivery

Director: Sujoy Ghosh Cast: Viveik Anannd Oberoi, Ayesha Takia, Mahima Chaudhary, Boman Irani, Saurabh Shukla, Tiku Talsania, Arif Zakaria, Rushitaa Pandyaa (Karan Johar, Abhishek Bachchan, Juhi Chawla, Naseeruddin Shah, Suniel Shetty, Sanjay Suri, Shayan Munshi, Victor Banerjee, Ritiesh Deshmukh, Peeya Rai Choudhuri, Shernaaz Patel, Aman Verma)

3.5/10

We, the Jhankaar Beats audience, missed the subtle music of Home Delivery, so excuse us. But what was it? It didn’t deliver a thing, large or extra. You have a self-styled Gyaan Guru ? a columnist and scriptwriter ? Sunny (Viveik Annand Oberoi!) who calls his girlfriend Nunny (Ayesha ? too sugary)?now is that funny? Add Tiku screaming his breath out singing ‘Rawalpindi’ and Saurabh barging in every other minute with another idea. Stir in some oomph ? Mahima, who lets her cleavage do the talking, and Arif a serial killer who jumps out of the window, exactly what the audiences would have done out of boredom had there been windows around. So here goes a tasteless pizza in the name of film delivered by director Sujoy Ghosh.

Boman (what a waste!) dressed as Santa, mind you it’s Diwali, sings the title song explaining why Home Delivery is called Home Delivery but it comes with the end credits and you are left clueless till then. The film is like a comic strip, consciously stylised. And that scene lifted from Chhaddabeshi ? Pundarikakhha Purakayastha bit, was it a tribute to Uttam Kumar? Shirsha Ray’s cinematography is smart. But smartest is perhaps Ghosh’s PR power. Just look at the guest appearance list ? mindblowing.

Madhuparna Das