Movie Review - Munna Michael by Suhel Johar

Munna Michael Is A Run Of The Mill Potboiler.

 

Michael Jackson has been a great inspiration for the present-day artistes. Tiger Shroff is one of them who have never shied away from speaking about his love for the deceased star. Hence, casting him in a film that pays a tribute to Jackson seems definitely ideal. After Heropanti and Baaghi, actor Tiger Shroff and director Sabbir Khan have collaborated for the third time for Munna Michael. 

Munna Michael tells the story of a Michael Jackson fan from the streets of Mumbai whose life changes when he meets a beautiful, charming girl and a Delhi goon. Munna (Tiger Shroff) has always been a fan of MJ. He also doesn’t take it lying down when people try to be over smart and has no qualms in breaking their bones. During one such action adventure, he comes in contact with a ruthless gangster from Delhi, Mahinder (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). When Mahinder realizes that Munna is a born dancer, he asks him to train him and help him become a good dancer. Munna agrees, reluctantly. Soon Munna learns that Mahinder is learning dance to woo an aspiring star Dolly (Nidhhi Agerwal). Trouble arises when Munna falls for Dolly and she also develops feelings for him. How Munna balances his love for Dolly and his friendship with Mahinder forms the rest of the story.

With a patchy story, amateurish screenplay, disjointed scenes, and churlish dialogues, you feel like you are going to fall off this jerky ride! Munna Michael does start on an interesting note however soon the film gets overlaid with clichés and too many disjointed plots.. Most of the sequences look fake and the characters have not been written well. A lot of time is wasted for the major plot to unfold. Overall the first half of Munna Michael is below average and makes no impact.

The second half of Munna Michael is even more half baked and senseless. The second half looks confused and clumsy. The climax looks like everyone in the film along with the audience have been taken for a bumpy ride. On the whole, is a complete misfire in every which way. The heights in cinematic liberty are attained in the finale. See it to believe it! It’s only the superbly stylized action scenes and some snazzy dance moves that somehow manage to keep you seated through the duration of the film. Unfortunately, Munna Michael may have good dancing steps but the lack of a good story and a coherent script to make it a dance.

On a good note, the film sends out a message to respect women; it urges young boys and men who stalk girls to leave them alone with the message that it is up to the woman to choose whom she wants to love and for whatever reason.

Sabbir Khan’s efforts as a director like in his previous films Kambakkakht Ishq, Heropanti and Baaghi is very formulaic. He concentrates to showcase the dancing and fighting skills of Tiger Shroff and ignores the importance of a good script. The director clearly fails to make an impact despite having some wonderful actors in the film.

The writing of the film is another major letdown. It seems that Vimi Datta, the writer of the film, didn’t have much to offer after a good start and took the predictable, clichéd route. Some serious scenes become unintentionally funny. Cinematography by Hari Vedantam is impressive. Editing by Manan Sagar is average. K Ravi Verma’s action is thrilling. Music by Meet Bros, Tanishk Bagchi, Pranaay, Vishal Mishra, Javed-Mohsin and Gourov-Roshin is okay. Background score by Sandip Shirodkar is decent.

Performancewise, Tiger Shroff dances like a superstar and pays a good tribute to Michael Jackson. Having proved his worth as a dancer and stuntman it is time now for him to show his mettle as an actor. His work in the film won’t be breaking any new ground for him.  Nawazuddin Siddiqui is splendid to say the least. The actor has always worked his magic in any kind of a performance and this film is no exception. His dialogue delivery and comic timing hits the bulls’ eye and brings the much needed masala in the film. And yes, he dances very well! Debutante Nidhhi Agerwal is nothing more than mere eye candy in this film. Ronit Roy is okay. Pankaj Tripathi is good. Ameesha Patel, Chitrangda Singh, Farah Khan, and Shenaz Treasury fail to make a mark in their cameos.

On the whole, Munna Michael is clichéd masala film that tests your endurance level.