Crew (2024) :
Movie Review:
This Crew Needed A Better Flight To Fly
Crew Review: Rajesh Krishnan surprised everyone with Tripling and Lootcase, and so the expectations were similar or higher from Crew. With three gorgeous ladies in the lead and never-seen-before aerial heist drama, this Kareena Kapoor, Tabu, and Kriti Sanon starrer was expected to fly high and even took off on a decent note, but unfortunately, the flight couldn't land safely. There was some unrepairable turbulence in the second half that took this exciting heist comedy down. A few comic punches worked because of adult humour and urban touches, but were they enough? Frankly, no, but they do pass on some good laughs. This Crew needed a better pilot, better training, and better study material than what it has to fly high. Let's say, air traffic jammed it.
So, Crew can be called a wannabe parody of Vijay Mallya's scam, as here we have Vijay Waliya (Saswata Chatterjee), the owner of Kohinoor Airliner. We have three super hot air hostesses: Divya Rana (Kriti Sanon), Jasmin (Kareena Kapoor), and Geeta Sethi (Tabu), who are not getting paid enough and are struggling to get a respectable income. After trying all the right and honest ways of life, these three finally decide to join the dishonest gang at once by smuggling gold from India to the Middle East. Sooner or later, they were supposed to get caught, but what happens when they are looted by a rich man? These three must gang up to get what was "ours," even though you have to turn a plain comedy into a heist comedy for that.
Nidhi Mehra and Mehul Suri's Crew has a decent first half, but things crash down heavily in the second half. Parodying Vijay Mallya and his scam was okay; it was somewhat funny, but trying to capture him and seize gold was too much. The concept goes terribly wrong, and there are reasons for it. In the first half, you relate to the story because you can feel the struggle of those three ladies and their friends (crew members). However, the second half is not about them, so you lose all the connection and all the interest in the story.
It's okay to take inspiration from The Italian Job and Oceans Eleven, but you don't have to drag those ideas into your fictional parody world by saying that it's all done for society's sake. The second half of Crew is full of loopholes. More holes (windows) than any plane can have. Nidhi and Mehul's sarcastic attempt at urban comedy is praiseworthy, but the comical sense was cheap. Nobody cares what's happening in the personal lives of those three ladies because they haven't had an inspiring or stable life. For instance, Divya (Kriti Sanon) is a topper, a sports champion, and always ready to fight the wrongs. She scares the hell outta referee for his wrong decision-that's more like it. But what happens to this smart, intelligent, and honest girl in the very next moment when she has quick sex with a stranger without any hi, hello, or even a formal introduction (forget love)? I never saw a dead man having a boner after death (almost after 10 minutes). You can't be serious, man. This is some next-level crap.
I must say, Crew has plenty of glamour. Tabu hasn't been doing glamorous roles lately, except for De De Pyaar De, but here, she gets a complete new makeover. What a sexy makeover she has got here! The best and most aggressive dialogues also go into her kitty. Kriti Sanon is "Kali" (bud). She is young, dashing, and sexy, and she looks damn confident as an air hostess. Kareena gets into her Bebo mode again. Only this time around, you have to see her antagonising a few things. But then, she also has a few emotional scenes. Trupti Khamkar has done a fantastic job and will surely get your appreciation. Rajesh Sharma was a bit irritating in some scenes with those fake laughter and expressions, and the same goes for Saswata Chatterjee. I never could have imagined these two senior actors being wasted like this. Kapil Sharma had a sensible role, but with low screen time. Diljit Dosanjh has a somewhat interesting role, which isn't elevated well enough.
Anil Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor have spent a nice budget on the lavish scale and look of the film. The costumes are exquisite, the locations are gorgeous, and the production design looks beautiful. Anuj Rakesh Dhawan's close-up shots of the three leading ladies are stimulating, but sometimes they expose the make-up they are wearing. That's scary. The music is tappy, as "Choli," "Naina," and "Ghagra" set the party mood right. Rajesh Krishnan's direction skills see a dip in quality compared to what he has done in Lootcase and Tripling, but more than him, it's the script that deserves to be blamed. Krishnan's over-the-top jokes can still take multiplex audiences on a roll, but they may not get enough support from the masses. Crew is a little screwed-actually very much screwed-in the second half, but there are some scenes that give you a little pleasure of new-age female-driven comedy. The rest of the show is strictly below average, and no oxygen mask can save you from that.
RATING - 4/10*
