Movie Review- Mubarakan by Suhel Johar

Mubarakan Is A Cliched Comedy Caper.

 

Mubarakan is yet another no brainer comedy caper from the Anees Bazmee stable, that comes attached with a standard dose of slapstick humour, loud characters, ear splitting background music, silly lines, peppy music and yes, a big fat wedding at the climax. In short, the film continues on the lines of Anees Bazmee’s earlier comedies such as No Entry, Welcome, Singh Is Kinng, No Problem, Ready, and Welcome Back. The signature slapstick humour of this film, however, is not one that will keep you glued to your seat or have you in splits.

Twin brothers Karan and Charan (both played by Arjun Kapoor) are adopted by their paternal aunt Jeeto (Ratna Pathak Shah) and paternal uncle Baldev (Pavan Malhotra) respectively after their parents die in a car crash. While Karan grows up in London to be a suave and stylish young man, Charan grows up in Chandigarh as a shy and introverted boy. Kartar Singh (Anil Kapoor) their other uncle gets involved in their love lives when Karan’s girlfriend Sweety Gill (Ileana D’Cruz) is betrothed to Charan. Charan, initially assumed to be in love with Nafisa Quereshi (Neha Sharma) later discovers his affection for Binkle (Athiya Shetty) who ends up as Karan’s fiancée. Nafisa too later falls in love with Binkle’s brother Manpreet (Karan Kundra). The comedy of errors takes a turn for the worse with the families falling apart in all this confusion and it ultimately becomes Uncle Kartar’s mess to sort out before the two brothers go through their nuptials in a London Gurdwara.

Mubarakan is yet another clichéd comedy caper from Anees Bazmee stable that comes attached with slapstick humour, loud characters, ear splitting background music, silly lines, 'peppy' music and yes, a big fat wedding at the climax.

Mubarakan is a film which is based on an extremely predictable plot and the humour in the film is pedestrian. The premise of twins causing chaos is not a novel concept in Bollywood. The film is more like a chaos wherein the lead characters are confused with their love choices. The film starts on an entertaining note but as the film progresses monotony sets in. The second half is even worse as things start getting a tad melodramatic with long monologues delivered by some characters. The climax too is very predictable

The film has its share of amazing locations and the effort to make the audience laugh is also there but the problem is most of it falls short to make you laugh. Anees Bazmee whose previous films have also been on the lines of confusion and hilarious marriages follows a similar path with Mubarakan and that disappoints big time. The film is replete with no brainer punch lines like, Is Baar Christmas 25 ko hai, which make it all the more worse. The film tends to drag and you tend to glance at the watch all too often.

Ear-splitting background music, randomly inserted songs, repetitive gags spoil the fun and not even Anil Kapoor’s screen presence can resurrect it though one must say that he is on top form and goes all out to entertain you. You may laugh quite a few times through the 156 minutes but Mubarakan is certainly not one of those films that you’ll carry home with you. Of late people have been treated to either some big budget duds or a lot of unimpressive pretentious cinema so a no brainer escapist comedy. The best thing going for the film is the fact that it’s been a while since a mass entertainer has made it to the theatres.

Anees Bazmee sticks to his brand of slapstick comedy and his direction can be termed ordinary. He has made no effort to reinvent his skills and come up with something new. Instead he just recycles himself and fills old bottle with old wine that can only be described as humdrum. Story by Balwinder Singh Janjua and Rupinder Chahal is okay, Screenplay by Balwinder Singh Janjua is predictable. Dialogues by Rajesh Chawla are mundane. Himman Dhamija's cinematography is excellent. Rameshwar S. Bhagat's editing works fine. The music is composed by Amaal Mallik, Gourov-Roshin and Rishi Rich. Music Too much use of Punjabi lyrics in songs play a spoilsport as you barely manage to register the words. Except for the recreated version of Hawa Hawa and the title song, none of the other tracks stay with you post the end credit rolls. Background score by Amar Mohile is very loud..

Performance wise Anil Kapoor’s portrayal of Kartar Singh stands out as of the few good performances in the film. Arjun Kapoor's acting chops haven't impressed the critics much but here, his double role has its own shining moments especially as the meek Charan. Ileana’s character is convincing enough in the film but Athiya’s extremely brief presence is quite a mismatch. Neha Sharma has a small role, she does well. Last but not the least, Ratna Pathak Shah and Pavan Malhotra prove what seasoned actor they are by putting in.  

On the whole, Mubarakan is for all those people who may be looking out for some popcorn entertainer with a dose of stupid humour? Then Mubarakan could be your pick.