Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kunaal Roy Kapur and Evelyn Sharma
Director: Rohan Sippy
Rating: 2/5
A drama far too stretched..!!
'Vicky Donor' was a dream debut for Ayushmann Khuranna while Kunaal Roy Kapur created quite an impact in 'Delhi Belly', so their paring in 'Nautanki Saala' is bound to create excitement. Director Rohan Sippy attempts a comedy for the first time in his career, but 'Nautanki Saala' is not an out-and-out comedy as it has some doses of drama too.
Ram Parmar a.k.a RP (Ayushmann Khurrana) is a theatre artist and plays the cool 'Raavan' in a play that looks like it has the production qualities equivalent to that of Broadway. A great career, a nice girlfriend Chitra (Gaelyn Mendonca); everything is going smooth for RP, until he tries saving a man named Mandar (Kunaal Roy Kapur) from attempting suicide. RP tries to make Mandar realize 'Life is Beautiful' and helps him win back his lost love Nandini (Pooja Salvi).
The first half of the film is hilarious, especially the theatre audition and the hospital receptionist scene which makes the movie really fun. Rohan seeks inspiration from a French movie 'Apres Vous', but he adapts it really well to suit the Indian audiences.
Post-interval, the movie is not able to keep the momentum going and the big issue is that you see less of RP and Mandar, and more of Nandini and RP's romance which just does not work.
The screenplay by Chardutt Charya, Nipun Dharamadhikari and Rohan Sippy is frail and the love triangle is far too stretched. 'Nautanki Saala' is a visual treat as the entire credit goes to cinematographer Manoj Lobo for making Bombay look beautiful and 'RavaanLeela' so grand. The music of the movie is good enough. 'Mera mann' (a nice romantic track) and 'Dil ki to lag gayi' are two songs that are beautifully shot.
Ayushmann Khurrana does a great job as his comic timing is amazing and very natural. His chemistry with Kunaal is outstanding, but there are a few portions in the movie that display a weak side to him.
Kunaal Roy Kapur is excellent as he makes you smile the minute he appears onscreen. He pulls off his character without any effort.
Gaelyn Mendonca makes a decent debut, she is the only actress in the movie, who adds energy to the movie. Pooja Salvi looks pretty, but she really needs to work on her acting skills, in fact she makes co-star Ayushmann look bad. Evelyn Sharma does her job; she is the eye candy for the viewers in the movie.
Theatre producer Sanjeev Bhatt is entertaining; his dialogue narration is bound to make the audiences laugh. Sulbha Arya has a limited role though.
Though 'Nautanki Saala' is funny and the chemistry between Ayushmann and Kunaal makes the film a one time watch, it's the unnecessary romance that prolongs the movie.