By Sameer Wadekar, Bollywood Trade News Network

Priyadarshan’s movies hardly had any place for straight on the face kind of humor. Instead he wants to make us laugh by placing his characters amidst a riot, a cacophony where the characters are just kept rumbling around in situations that look straight out of a comic book. His films can amuse, tickle our funny bones and have a little charm to them. But at the same time they are filled with scruffy, cluttered and most of the times over-the-top situations that almost pull the movie on the brink of getting bizarre. But that’s Priyadarshan’s style, his fashion of treating comedies and in the course of time it’s become his symbol. And quite frankly he’s very good at it.

In BHAGAM BHAG too his inimitable touch never goes out of sight. But this time he does not rely on it or try to go overboard with his madcap tricks to bring out the laughter. He and writer Neeraj Vora instead try to wade the story through some unpretentious and toned-down sequences. The director has this time chosen to work on a suspense comedy and the story has shaped up well.  Priyadarshan has also pushed aside the usual Bollywood elements in this film. None of his actors ‘sing and dance’ in this movie. Of course there are songs but not too many and they don’t intercept the story flow. And they seem plausible this time because the heroes work as stage performers. Yes there are blemishes in the screenplay but in a movie like this, one is really not supposed to bother about them as logic is never the motive!

Here we have two trouble-making guys Bunty aur Babla (Akshay Kumar and Govinda respectively) who are a pain in the a** for their irritated troupe boss Champak (Paresh Rawal). The heroine of their dance show walks out and they land up in London with their group but without a heroine. Bunty and Babla are assigned the job of finding a heroine but instead lay their hands on heroin!!! Soon they come on to the police books but the cop (Jackie Shroff) lets them off on bail. But trouble does not end for Bunty and Babla. 

Bunty soon finds a lady called Munni (Lara Dutta) but we learn later on that nothing’s like what it seems with this girl. She goes by many names and has a traumatic and ambiguous past. It is then when the story takes a different turn. It’s not wise to reveal anything more about the story but as in most Priyadarshan’s movies, this movie too then parades through the trademark comic elements.

This is some sort of a comeback vehicle for the comedy champ Govinda. But sadly it’s not the usual Govinda that was visible here. In fact, don’t remember him being so uncomfortable and fluffy before. Actually his strength is his brilliant comic timing and his impressive facial flaunts. But in a movie like these qualities have got strangulated and it’s a little pitiful that this remarkable entertainer, to be a little harsh, seems slightly out of place. But he nonetheless does his job fine but he’s the second fiddle in the movie.

And this is exactly what trims down the chemistry between the leading actors. You have two major players of comedy here, Paresh Rawal and Govinda and also considerably adept Akshay Kumar but the chemistry is lacking. Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal do a decent job and because it’s Priyadarshan at the helms they are automatically placed in the comfort zone. In fact all the actors have given notable performances. There are the Priyadarshan regulars like Rajpal Yadav, Shakti Kapoor, Sharat Saxena, Manoj Joshi and others. The movie could have been exhausting and one point looks a little stretched. The movie isn’t thoroughly exciting either but it’s because of the talented caste at the fore the movie holds up itself. Jackie Shroff impresses with his little walk on.

And the chirpy music also helps in navigating the “chaos” in the movie a little further. The music is by Pritam and he provides a hummable bunch of tracks. The editing has been made swift but a little trimming down could have sustained the pace.

Yes the movie has got some over-the-top comedy. It’s a little loud in places and some dialogues are plain annoying. But it’s a comedy and it’s real tough to come out with a flawless one. Filmmakers like Priyadarshan are at leas being true to their convictions, trying to bring a smile on the people’s faces. And no matter how glossy the comedy is there is an audience for such a film and they definitely go and check out the movie and have a nice time. This is what a comedy is expected to do. And why should a reviewer try to stop the people from bringing a smile on their faces! Wouldn’t that be unfair?