Review
Ideally, the plotline of BHEJA FRY is best suited for a stage play [theatre], but director Sagar Ballary makes an attempt to garnish it with interesting twists to
suit the 35 mm format. Only thing, a concept like BHEJA FRY, even though it packs in ample laughs in 12 reels, is strictly for the multiplex junta. Again, not all multiplexes, but select ones. With a title like BHEJA FRY, you expect a wacky fare and it does meet your expectations at times. The incidents take place in one night and unlike IS RAAT KI SUBAH NAHIN [different genre, but incidents unfold in one night], BHEJA FRY stresses on humor. Whether it's the rift between a married couple [Rajat Kapoor, Sarika] or the other people involved in their lives [Milind Soman, Bhairavi Goswami] or a man finding out that his wife is cheating on him [Ranveer Shorey], Ballary injects humor in every situation. Serious moments? Don't look for it in BHEJA FRY. In a nutshell, BHEJA FRY is a time pass fare that doesn't tax your bheja. It has its limitations since it caters to a select audience, but the film dares to push the envelope further.
Ranjeet Thadani [Rajat Kapoor], a music company executive, hurts his back the night he has found a prize catch for a weekly bring-your-idiot talent dinner hosted by his friends and him. He ends up spending the evening with this idiot, Bharat Bhushan [Vinay Pathak], who tries to help him get his wife [Sarika] back, who left him earlier that day. The result is utter chaos let loose by the idiot, who cannot do a single thing without messing it up further.
It's difficult to make people laugh and director Sagar Ballary walks a difficult path in his directorial debut. But what bails him out are a fairly interesting screenplay [Sagar Ballary, Arpita Chatterjee] and most importantly, an actor who gets it right in every scene -- Vinay Pathak.
There are times when you truly enjoy the jokes, but there're also times when you refuse to flex your facial muscles since the humor appears forced. The best moments are those when Vinay calls up various people [Milind, Bhairavi, Ranveer, Sarika], but ends up messing things. From the writing point of view, the track between the couple [Rajat, Sarika] is the weakest since on one hand they seem like a perfectly normal couple [the husband gifts his wife a swanky car] and minutes later, the wife walks out of the house. Kya hua? Pata nahin!
Vinay Pathak is the star of the show. He looks every inch a simpleton who's ready to become the bakra. He says everything with a straight face, that's one of the reasons why this performance works. His timing is simply fantastic.
Rajat Kapoor is alright. Sarika doesn't get much scope. Milind Soman enacts his part well. Ranveer Shorey goes over the top this time. Bhairavi Goswami exudes oomph, but needs to work on her facial expressions. Tom Alter, Harsh Chhaya and Ikhlaque Khan get limited scope.
On the whole, BHEJA FRY has its enjoyable moments, but it's the type of cinema that would appeal to the multiplex junta of a few cities only. An effort like this will find more patronage on DVDs/Satellite TV than the ticket window.
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