Projected as a laugh riot in its promotional campaign, BAJATEY RAHO is actually a revenge con drama trying too hard to entertain the viewer with its not so hilarious sequences. The film has a star-cast promising you an enjoyable ride but the not so happening script never lets them perform to the best of their ability except in the final half an hour. As a result, till the story progression gains it desired momentum, it becomes too late for this comparatively short duration film of only 107 minutes and the viewer largely remains unsatisfied while moving out.
Taking a wild guess on the basic idea behind this film, it seems that the makers wished to make something on the lines of KHOSLA KA GHOSLA along with the references of the big surprise hit VICKY DONOR. So working on this exciting idea, they first got a script written, mostly inspired from the plot of KKG wherein a huge sum needs to be stolen back from a cunning businessman and roped in Vinay Pathak, Ranveer Shorey & Rajender Sethi, the three men playing key roles in the same movie. Now further taking a clue from the recent success of VD, they bring in Dolly Alhuwalia & even Kamlesh Gill to woo the audience. And then to make it a more commercial viable product, they get Tusshar Kapoor (as the hero), Ravi Kishan (as the villain) & Vishakha Singh to play the forced in romantic lead which was not required at all. So in my opinion, this must have been the thought process behind the making of this poor clone of KHOSLA KA GHOSLA as it seems.
Following the above mentioned vision, the director tries to retain the same Punjabi feel, placing his characters in the good old Delhi, one of the most favourite city of Bollywood directors in the last few years. Moreover the dialogues are all written with a typical Punjabi touch, which completely fails to generate even half of what we all enjoyed a lot in both KKG and VD. Beginning with an unimpressive sting operation scene in a school, its first hour is a big drag with nothing great happening on the screen despite the presence of some exceptionally talented actors. The director is unable to extract a good comedy from his performers due to an unexciting writing and the film truly disappoints before the interval.
Thankfully the scenario takes a major turn post intermission as the progression gains momentum and it all gets on the right path with everyone joining in for a big fat marriage. The smiles are back after a fine Jagran sequence (reminding you the one seen in FUKREY) having a great parody song, "Tainu Main Love Karda" (Mata Di Bhent) written brilliantly, based on the famous DESI BOYZ party track. Later there is another catchy number "Main Nagin Dance Nachna" which should do well in the discos and parties all over north India. Coming to its conclusion fast, the film ends on a hurried note and the final 30-40 minutes, luckily save this weak attempt from the director Shashant Shah, post his appreciable DASVIDANIYA (2008) and CHALO DILLI (2011).
BAJATEY RAHO fails to make an instant connect with the viewer mainly due to its slow and non-hilarious script which tries desperately to bring in that desired humor in vain. Its major attraction i.e. the star-cast mostly remains underutilized with actors like Vinay, Ranveer and Tusshar simply doing nothing substantial on the screen unexpectedly. Ravi Kishan and Vishakha act fine but the romantic angle between Vishakha and Tushhar was entirely out of sync. In the remaining cast Rajender Sethi(the TV Star's father), Rajinder Nanu (Raman), Vikas Mohla (pawan), Anya Singh (Gudiya), Nikhil Pandey (as the TV Star) and Husaan Saad (the Kid) provide their much needed support in the events, particularly in the last hour. But it was quite surprising to see Kamlesh Gill (the famous Dadi of VD) being wasted only in 2-3 scenes.
Cinematography gives the film its much required look or feel and Background Score tries to create the impact of a hit comedy with much effort. But when in a Hindi film, actors try to speak Punjabi in a faulty way then it really ruins the build-up and questions the direction as well as the writing in a big way.
Yet BAJATEY RAHO can be seen once for its two good songs, a few entertaining scenes of Dolly Ahluwalia and a truthful performance of Brijendra Kala playing the ignored personal secretary superbly. It has a better second half which largely saves the film, turning it into an average entertainer in the end, quite safely. Still films like BAJATEY RAHO (which could have been much more with such a cast ensemble) mostly enjoy a better run in the home video market than in the theaters.
