Inter-caste marriage is a great formula used successfully in many films with great results. In recent times, films like 2 States, Vicky Donor etc tackled this idea and came out with flying colours. Now, writer-director Sanjay Chhel attempts this idea with his comic caper. However, unlike its predecessors, this film fails miserably!
The story of the movie: Hasmukh Patel (Paresh Rawal) lives in a Gujarati-only residential society. He has two daughters, the youngest one being Pooja (Payal Ghosh). Trouble arises when Guggi Tandon (Rishi Kapoor) comes to stay bang opposite Hasmukh’s residence. Guggi is loud, alcoholic and non-vegetarian – basically everything that Hasmukh isn’t and abhors. To add to Hasmukh’s problems, Guggi’s son Monty (Vir Das) falls for Pooja who in turn also gets attracted to him.
Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi is dated, not just in terms of look but also in terms of content. On second thoughts, a film like this won’t have worked even two decades ago. The pace is inconsistent and few sequences are badly edited and quickened. It’s more or less a comic caper but there are very few sequences that will actually make you guffaw. The Monty-Pooja romantic track is extremely poor and looks fake. At one point, a villainous character belonging to a political party (Rajeev Mehta) is introduced. He serves nothing to the story and no explanation is given how he became a part of the film.
Paresh Rawal however does a fine job. The irritation and the snobbishness that his character had to exude come out beautifully. Rishi Kapoor too does justice to his character. He looks apt for the part and delivers with ease. Vir Das looks a bit out of place and is quite okay. Payal Ghosh doesn’t get a chance to prove her acting talent. Prem Chopra (Prem Tandon) gets no scope. Bharati Achrekar (Hasmukh’s mother) has an interesting character but it doesn’t get a chance to prove its worth. Tiku Talsania (Kantilal) leaves a mark. Rajeev Mehta and Dayashankar Pandey (cop) serve no purpose to the story. Jinal Belani (Hasmukh’s elder daughter) and Divya Seth (Hasmukh’s wife) are wasted. Shilpa Shinde fails to look sizzling for the item number.
Music is forgettable. Meri Mehandi is a garba song that looks completely out of place. Maro Line is nothing special while What’s Up O Mata Rani is the only track that’s catchy enough. Ankhha Churave is needlessly forced. The Punjabi-Gujarati Sagai Song is played during the end credits. Background score seems to be borrowed from some daily soap. Nitin Ashish and Shyam Dev‘s art direction is also TV show-like.
Sanjay Chhel’s story is insipid. He has written several good films in the past and it’s shocking at the level at which he has fallen down. Sanjay Chhel’s screenplay is amateur and the manner in which so many things are forced into the narrative is shocking. Sanjay Chhel’s dialogues do raise laughs but only at few places. Sanjay Chhel’s direction is extremely bad. The film is an amalgamation of random scenes badly stitched together. A romantic track between Pooja and Monty starts all of a sudden. Before you realise, there’s also a quiz show a la Kaun Banega Crorepati sequence thrown in! The entire mystery surrounding ‘Pat Singh’ is absurd. Rap song, a dandiya song, an action sequence at a highway dhaba – there are so many unwanted stuffs added into the film just for the heck of it!
On the whole, Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi is a poor show and doesn’t deserve a watch even on television.
My rating – * ½ out of 5!