Review: FUKREY RETURNS

Nahi Waapas Aata Toh Accha Hota!

1 star

Mini Review:

The trouble with sequels is that they need to take the story forward

or put the protagonists in a new setting. Fukrey, the original mayhem

was fun because the protagonists were losers and yet they had a

knack of getting out of trouble. This film alas has none of the

original humor, the jokes seem forced and out of really bad

Whatsapp forwards, the characters have no redeeming qualities

and despite a bigger budget the story seems forced.

Main Review:

Fukrey had come out of nowhere in 2013 and hit every funny bone

just right. Two lads who are just not good enough for girls or money

or success. They team up with a young Sardar and a lad who has

overstayed in college. But then one of them dreams up of numbers.

They play the lottery and win big. They even manage to get the

attention of a bad girl: Bholi Punjaban. She bets on them and there

are drugs and more money and cops and mayhem that was fun.

In Fukrey Returns, Bholi makes a deal with a crooked politician

and comes out of jail with vengeance on her mind. Why did she stay

in jail for a whole year you wonder, but you let it be hoping she’d go

straight for the jugular. But then vengeance gets diluted when they

show dumb things like her henchmen are now traveling in an

auto-rickshaw instead of a car.

Kaali Naagin Bum Par He Kaategi. Because Cheap Laughs.

Meanwhile we get to see more closeups of Choocha’s (Varun

Sharma) body hair and acne/heat rash filled back in the name of
humor. Sucking snake venom off anyone’s butt (they’re defecating
in the bushes) is funny maybe if you are a ten year old.
And showing it twice is even more pathetic.

Pulkit Samrat, Ali Fazal and Manjot Singh had equal footage in
the original film. Their stories were fun. Here, they seem to occupy
the screen mostly having nothing to say or contribute to the story.
The heroines (Priya Anand and Vishakha Singh) too are now
cardboard cutouts and when they suddenly appear for the treasure
hunt (how did they know there was to be a hunt at all? The Lads
have not been in touch with them. And Choocha’s crush on Bholi
Punjaban is milked until death. Of the film that is.

Bechari Audience. Not. A. Single. Laugh.

Richa Chadda tries hard, but even she looks baffled at the goings on.
The super talented Pankaj Tripathi who plays Panditji, fails too because
he has to deliver really pathetic, unfunny lines. When will Bollywood
understand that speaking broken English is not comedy. Or for that
matter having African origin actors as henchmen and a dark skinned
guy giving mouth to mouth (again to Choocha who supposedly does
not brush his teeth for weeks) is more than insulting. It’s racist.   

All in all Fukrey Returns is like being offered water from Mantriji’s
pedicure bowl as a drink. It’s disgusting and it stinks.



(This review sans subheads appears on nowrunning.com)