Shriram Iyengar
Mumbai, 15 Sep 2017 13:32 IST
Updated: 16 Sep 2017 16:43 IST
Sanjay Chhel's film is a struggle to sit through and creates a caricaturish portrayal of a culture battle between two states in the same region, without being funny about it.
In the 2007 animated film Ratatouille, Anton Ego, a critic, writes "But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so." Ego never saw Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi.
Sanjay Chhel's film starring two veterans in Paresh Rawal and Rishi Kapoor might have changed Ego's opinion on the virtues of criticism. Filled with sterotypes so high and loud that they seem fictional, Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi is one wedding everyone should avoid.
The film begins with a description of a Gujarati society (read ghetto) where every Gujarati lives his life according to the morals dictated by 'Gujarati asmita'. They gather at society meetings with the chant of 'Jai garvi Gujarat', and watch only Aastha channel on television. The society has already banned alcohol, meat, loud music, and 'English channels'. Of these, Hasmukh Patel (Rawal) is the vocal leader, and lives life wearing his Gujarati pride on the sleeves of his kurta. He owns a grocery shop (what else!), and conducts his business like worship.
Into this deeply Gujarati society arrive the Tandons from Tarn Taran Sahib in Punjab. Led by Guggi Tandon (Kapoor), his son, Monty Tandon (why Vir Das, why?) and his father, Prem Lal Tandon (Prem Chopra), they are loud, crass, cursing, drinking Punjabis to the core. They break down the strictly maintained code of the society one move after another.
Hasmukh Patel cannot take it anymore (and neither can we, to be honest) and decides to take them on. Except for some strange reason, the two families continue to exist with each other. The story reaches a head when Monty falls for Pooja (Payal Ghosh), Hasmukh's daughter.
No matter what the Tandons do to try and placate Patel, it ends up going wrong. From landing him in jail, to breaking up his elder daughter's engagement, the Tandons blunder into one error after another. Patel, on the other hand, is driven by an old grudge for Punjabis, caused by his son leaving him to marry a Punjabi girl (there is a Freudian study here, but it would be best left aside.)
That is as much as we could make of the story. To describe the scenes is a far greater challenge than this reviewer is capable of.
Chhel's film contains little plot movement, and is mostly filled with one stereotyped and silly anecdote after another. Kapoor and Rawal sleepwalk through their roles, and look like they would rather be somewhere else.
Kapoor, recently slammed Jagga Jasoos director Anurag Basu, saying "They (filmmakers) don't show their films before release to take opinions." The reviewer would like to question Mr Kapoor if he was shown this film, and what his opinion was. The same goes for Rawal. These two superbly talented actors are wasted in roles that are neither real, funny, nor really funny.
The film cries out several questions, including why Das chose to do this film. With a recent release of his stand-up comedy series, Abroad Understanding, Das is hardly in need of money, or the pain of going through this charade.
For all their flaws, these actors do manage to act/react to their scenes with a degree of sincerity that makes for cringeful watching. The reviewer will not say the same of the film's lead actress, Ghosh, who is making a debut. She struggles to manage the simplest of expressions, and comes across as shrill and painful to watch.
Chhel does try his best to include some current events into the film's scenarios. These attempts include a scene where Patel takes part in KKC - Kiski Kismat Chamke, a television quiz show to earn the money he needs to get his daughter's engagement on track. However, it only feels like a forceful addition brought in to take the story somewhere. At one point, Das even slips out of character to say "Uncle, mujhe bhi aana hai aapke saath KBC me (Uncle, I too want to participate in KBC with you) " Well, so much for the copyright issue.
As for the comedy in the film, it is non-existent. Where it does exist, it is poor. The characterization of these loud stereotypes is almost racist. There are few Punjabi households that will tolerate naked lady busts on their dinner tables, or drink morning, day and night. Neither do Gujaratis stay away from drinks and meat so religiously.
There is also the repeated 'Gujarati asmita' (pride) thrown in every second dialogue. At some point, the film begins to sound like a commercial for the Gujarat state government, with the presence of so many talented Gujarati actors. Tiku Talsania, Rajeev Mehta (read Praful), Darshan Jariwala make appearances to support the Gujarati cause.
The director, in his attempt to emphasize the differences between these cultures, creates characters that are caricatures, and insulting ones at that.
This disaster is only aggravated by the poor writing that accompanies it all. Sample this scene: In the final question he needs to answer to win Rs50 lakh, Hasmukh Patel is thrown a 'googly' by the host (Jariwala). The question is "How many balls are thrown in one over in cricket?." Patel answers 6, before being pressured into calling Tandon, who, expectedly drunk, answers "1". It proves to be the right answer. If you are stunned, let the reviewer elaborate. There is only one ball thrown in a cricket over. The same ball is thrown 6 times.
This answer should be played as a health infomercial before the film, accompanied by the warning 'The film can be harmful to your intelligence.'
It is understandable that the process of demonetization has caused some serious problems with the economy, resulting in severe losses to the livelihoods of several people. However, the damage is not so severe as to force Kapoor, Rawal, and poor Chopra, or even Das to do a Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi. They could just have divorced themselves from this film.