Hindi Film Review
Arjun Patiala
By: Shaheen Raaj
“On The Whole Arjun Patiala Is A Shockingly Poor Fare”
Banner: T – Series & Maddock Films
Producers: Bhushan Kumar & Dinesh Vijan
Director: Rohit Jugraj
Star Cast: Diljit Dosanjh, Kriti Sanon, Varun Sharma, Ronit Roy, Pankaj Tripathi, Seema Pahwa, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Amit Mehra, Yogesh Upadhyay, Biswapati Sarkar, Himanshu Kohli, Ritesh Shah, Sumit Gulati, Sunny Leone, Mithilesh Chaturvedi, Ankush Kulshreshtha, Manvendra Tripathi, Tajender Singh, Pradeep Singh, Akshay Joshi, Rajeev Tiwari, Jaspal Sandhu, Nikita Grover, Bharat Bhatia & Gurmeet Chawla
Music: Sachin – Jigar, Akash D,
Guru Randhawa &
Ketan Sodha
Comedy is an established genre in Bollywood. Since the audiences are now ready for thehatke stuffs, filmmakers are constantly trying to push the boundaries in the existing genres too. This Friday coincidentally sees the release of 2 such films, although both the movies are as different as chalk & cheese. While Judgementall Hai Kya has violent undertones, the other film, Arjun Patiala, is like a spoof on comedy, on the lines of famous Hollywood films like Scary Movie & Deadpool. Bollywood has rarely made such films & one recent film in this space was Welcome To New York (2018). It was a huge failure in all respects & now its lead actor Diljit Dosanjh appears in another comedy film, Arjun Patiala.
So the scripted scenario of Arjun Patiala tells about a cop trying to achieve a crime free district. A struggling director (Abhishek Banerjee) meets a rich 3rd generation producer (Pankaj Tripathi). After ensuring that the director has put all the necessary “ingredients” needed for a masala entertainer, the producer allows the narration of the script. The director then starts to tell his story, that of a police officer named Arjun Patiala (Diljit Dosanjh). He becomes a sub-inspector through sports quota & he is posted at Ferozpur Police Station in Punjab. Within a few days, he falls for Ritu Randhawa (Kriti Sanon), an honest reporter working for Tezz News Channel. He is also visited by his senior, DSP Gill (Ronit Roy). Arjun looks up to him since childhood & he is the reason why he decided to be a cop. DSP Gill shares with him his dream of making Ferozpur a crime free district. Ritu Randhawa meanwhile helps Arjun Patiala in sharing the list of baddies in the area. There’s Baldev Rana (Amit Mehra) who is so brash that he even beats up police officers if they come in his way, Sukool (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) who runs a brick kiln, his brother Anda (Sumit Gulati) & finally Dilbaug Singh (Himanshu Kohli) who runs his business from jail & also has haemoglobin problems. Arjun Patiala devises a plan, he generates a gang war between them, hoping that they’ll all kill each other & hence DSP Gill’s dream will be achieved. However, there’s also MLA Prapti Makkad (Seema Pahwa) who seems to be the biggest villain of all & also has ulterior motives of her own. What happens next forms the rest of the crux of the film.
Ritesh Shah & Sandeep Leyzell’s story is outdated. The writers had some good ideas but fail to put it together on paper. Ritesh Shah & Sandeep Leyzell’s screenplay is shockingly horrible. It’s like an apology of a script. The attempt to make a spoof comedy & taking a dig at conventional Bollywood films is something that could have paid dividends. They also had some very funny characters & any other worthy writer would have made a complete laugh riot. Alas, the writers of the film let these characters go waste. They add some dry & beaten to death moments & twists. In fact, its bewildering how this script got approved in the 1st ever place. Ritesh Shah & Sandeep Leyzell’s dialogues are also dry & fail to evoke any laughter.
Rohit Jugraj’s direction is smooth for most places but with such a poor script, there isn’t much he could have done. At a few places however, he rushes through the film & this was avoidable. For instance, it’s never properly established why Sukool agrees to bump off other villains in the district. A few more minutes should have been spent in establishing the tensions between the varied gangs. If Rohit Jugraj had done the needful, the end result would have been better but still, the film would have emerged as a total disappointment as the content itself is not worth it.
So Arjun Patiala begins on a great note. The manner in which the producer & the director converse over the “masala” script is interesting. The opening credits sequence, a spoof on James Bond style of films, is witty. But soon, one realizes there’s nothing much happening in the film. Yes, there are a bunch of villains but they are not utilized properly. In fact, after a point, the film stops being funny. A few scenes are interesting here & there like Sukool assassinating Baldev Rana or the way a romance blooms between Arjun Patiala & Ritu Randhawa. But these are few & too far between. The twist in the tale in the pre-climax scenario is something that one can see from miles away. The grand finale is also hardly funny & reeks of lazy writing.
Sachin-Jigar’s music is nothing compared to their previous works. “Main Deewana Tera” has the chartbuster feel but doesn’t have a long shelf life. “Crazy Habibi vs Decent Munda” is situational. “Dil Todeya” & “Sachiya Mohabbatan” are okay. “Sip Sip” is played during the end credits. Ketan Sodha’s background score is totally & disapprovingly theatrical.
Sudip Sengupta’s cinematography is fine. Parijat Poddar & Shekhar Ujjainwal’s production design is a bit television show like. Vikram Dahiya’s action is sans any gore. Veena Kapur Ee’s costumes are appealing, especially the ones worn by Kriti Sanon. Huzefa Lokhandwala’s editing is too quick at places.
Diljit Dosanjh is apt as the cute & the naughty police officer. He genuinely plays his part & even tries to rise above the script. Varun Sharma (Onida Singh) is likeable although he’s repeating himself now. Kriti Sanon is also sincere & plays the entertaining part well. The sequence where she narrates her tragic part is where she gives her best. Sadly enough, the film makers spoil the show with an animated flashback running below on the screen & it takes away the impact of her performance too. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub is the best among the villains. He totally shines & it’s sad that such a cool villain won’t get his due to the bad script. Ronit Roy fits the part to the T. Seema Pahwa is decent. Amit Mehra, Himanshu Kohli & Sumit Gulati get no scope. Biswapati Sarkar as the Editor of the Tezz News Channel is appropriate. Ritesh Shah as Arjun’s father & the actor playing her mother are poor. Sunny Leone as Baby is sizzling. Pankaj Tripathi & Abhishek Banerjee are the funniest guys in the film.
Tail Piece: On the whole, Arjun Patiala is a shockingly poor fare, riddled with an outdated & absolutely tragic script.
At the box office, it will be rejected outright by the cine goers.
