Cast: John Abraham, Chitrangada Singh, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone and Omi Vaidya
Director: Rohit Dhawan
Rating: 3/5
Loosen up, have some fun, make some noise with these DESI BOYZ!
By Priyanka Ketkar
There was a time when commercial cinema was not looked down upon, wasn't called sleazy or mindless and didn't involve foul language and too much adult content... Well, it looks like debutant director Rohit Dhawan is all set to bring back that kind of cinema with his first- "Desi Boyz".
Thinking it will be like their earlier film Garam Masala and partially probably like Dostana, I was absolutely reluctant to go for this John-Akshay movie (I am sure so are you) but Desi Boyz managed to surprise me and kept me entertained throughout (maybe that is the result of having no expectations).
Nick Malhotra (John Abraham) and Jignesh aka Jerry Patel (Akshay Kumar) have been Best Friends for the past 15 years in spite of the obvious disparity in their statuses. Nick is a successful career man with an MBA degree and a high-paying job. He dreams big- two cars, a plush house in Hampstead, a loving wife, two kids and a doggy- perfect life! On the other hand, Jerry is a college drop-out, lives in nick's apartment and earns minimal so as it bear with the basic expenses. Theirs is a happy brotherhood; at least it looks happy, until the day two things happen- One, a girl enters into Nick's life (obvious end to the brotherhood) and two, well I will come to two later, first lets deal with the girl. So the girl, Radhika aka Rads Avasthi (Deepika Padukone), is a high-maintenance, super-confident, "ameer baap ki bighdi hui beti" (rich pop's spoilt brat), in love with Nick and cant stand his unemployed friend Jerry. Nick is happy and in love (ironic but true) until the day he proposes to her and the very next day he is axed due to recession (Don't get me wrong‘coz I am not trying to draw parallels between him proposing to her and his getting axed, all I mean is this is the "two" i.e. the second problem, which is recession, that I was going to tell you about). Fearing, that his girlfriend who is now his fiancee will leave him on knowing that he is no more capable of fulfilling her dreams, he keeps this a secret from her. But love isn't enough to fill ones stomach and Nick & Jerry need to start working somewhere soon. There are bills to be paid, food to be bought and most importantly, Jerry's nephew Veer, whose guardian Jerry is has to be saved from going to a foster home. How will all this be possible?
Someone has said this correctly that sometimes helplessness makes a man do such things that can be only imagined (okay that was a bit too much ‘coz they neither rob a bank nor murder someone...all they do is strip). Yes, these guys, to pay off their bills, shed-off their Jerry & Nick roles and put on the Rockko & Hunter roles. They become an over-night rage and even earn a decent amount of money. Nick decides to retire from this life, the moment he realizes that he can't lie about all this to Rads but Jerry convinces him to do one last job. Will this last job be his last? Will it be the end to their 15 years friendship? Will it be the end to Rads and Nick's fairy-tale love story? Yes, yes and yes.
Things go topsy-turvy but it is Bollywood and until there is no happy-ending, it is not the ending yet (Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost...). There is a lot of wooing, studying, fighting (the case for Veer's custody), flirting to do yet and they do it all.
Chalo ant bhala toh sab bhala... (All is well that ends well).
But the problem with the movie is that it lacks muscle at times. All four of them should've had more screen time together. John's wooing act seems silly and not-so-genuine at times. He cannot act or dance and without Akshay Kumar around, his solo act falls flat.Chitrangada is a very talented actress but she is hardly ever there. The story is also very weak; they could've definitely done a crisper job instead of stepping onto too many stones. The first half is a bit slow and the story only picks up in the second half but even then, there seem to be quite a few haphazard incidents.
Although Akshay Kumar at times looks old and John still cannot act or dance, together, their chemistry is sizzling and the result of their camaraderie is fun to watch. Deepika Padukone is superb. She is one actress in the industry who can pull-off & match with her colleagues' comic timing very well. Chitrangada has a very small role and throughout that part she talks like her "Garnier's Take Care" act, but who cares! She looks stunning, she acts well and her new avatar is definitely more than welcome. Omi Vaidya is as usual hilarious and the little boy is cute. Anupam Kher is the perfect, sweet dad and Sanju babaaka Sanjay Dutt's presence makes the movie even more entertaining.
The music and the cinematography are the two things to look out for. The movie is shot brilliantly and it overall has a very "feel-good" feel to it.
There is neither too much sleaze (okay, I know you just raised your brow 'coz I seemed to have over-looked their stripping & male-escorts part, but that makes it obviously a strict no-no for kids and if even this much "fun" is not included then even you wont go for it, right?) nor too much brain. It tries to balance emotions and drama with fun and frolic...doesn't succeed completely, but not so bad either. You can afford to watch it once, worth that much for sure.