Shakal Pe Mat Ja

Made on low budgets, good scripts and sans star power, independent cinema has been making waves and raking in the bucks in Bollywood these days. You would assume a shoestring budget would have made them focus on a smart script and some new jokes. But alas, it is not so with this pathetic and amateurish film.

The name that literally translates into 'don't go by the looks' is a comic drama of mistaken identities. Four boys, Ankit (Shubh Mukherjee), his kid brother Dhruv (Pratik Katare), a long haired imbecile Bulai (Harshal Parekh) and an NRI fatso Rohan (Chitrak Bandyopadhyay) are busy making a documentary on terror attacks and are caught by Airport's security officials while filming aircraft landings.

Security chief Om Prakash (Raghuvir Yadav) and anti-terrorist squad officer Chauhan (Saurabh Shukla) know that the boys don't look like terrorists but detain them for suspicion, partly because their video footage includes prominent landmarks and talks of explosives. Adding to the confusion is an attack by Omama (Zakhir Hussain) at around the same time. And then there is Amina (Aamna Shariff), a shady character.

This is supposed to be a comedy but has nothing fresh or funny. One humor track involves dimwitted teens doing dumb things to outsmart some equally dumb security staff at the Airport. And then there are jokes involving a fat guy's rumbling tummy are lifted straight out of 'Delly Belly'. This is not even slapstick or cheap humor. In comparison, Priyadarshan or Anees Bazmee would look like geniuses!

The plot is absolutely nonexistent and seems to mimic the satirical 2010 film 'Tere Bin Laden' which was well received. Looks like it was filmed in a mall with cheap looking airport signages pasted everywhere with a store room doubling up as a hideout for the bad guys. The lead actor also plays hero by diffusing a bomb in a clichéd scene of him cutting a wire followed by his lady love Prachi (Umang Jain) falling in his arms.

And what to talk of performances! Shubh Mukherjee tries to portray many facets: a college kid, deal maker for his friends, the smart one and a savior. Although the better one among the four, he has much to improve. Pratik Katare is jarring as the over-smart kid and Harshal Parekh looks totally lost. Raghuvir Yadav and Saurabh Shukla's roles are over the top. Aamna Shariff was probably there to bring in glamor!

Well, what's the obsession with the fat guy Chitrak Bandyopadhyay? His size and beard remind you of Zach Galifianakis in 'Hangover' series and 'Due Date' which in turn seems to have inspired Kunaal Roy Kapur act in 'Delhi Belly'. 'Bheja Fry' too had fat oaf, Vinay Pathak who was initially funny but became predictable in the sequel. Chitrak's despicable role hits nadir with his annoyingly fake American accent.

One would wonder why this movie was even made in the first place. It's simple. Hrishitaa Bhatt, the producer is married to the director Shubhashish Mukherjee or Shubh as he calls himself in the credits. With too much on his hands, the film only ends up as a venture satisfying his obsession to write, direct and act in a film.

'Shakal pe mat ja' is a lesson that Independent cinema could be just as awful as or even worse than mainstream cinema. To make matters worse this juvenile film is longer than two hours. So, spare yourself the torture. Stay away!

SHAKAL PE MAT JA is a comparatively small film without any known start- cast or hit songs which sincerely tries to entertain the viewer with its situational plot. But unfortunately it remains a try only throughout its over two hours of duration and fails to make the desired impact as earlier seen in TERE BIN LADEN or PHAS GAYE RE OBAMA.

SPMJ starts off well with a fine sequence of Police capturing four young boys shooting with their hand held camera at important high alert points of the city without any kind of official permission. And that is the only plot, around which the script keeps on rotating. The first scene showcasing the hilarious Police Officers interrogating the boys in their typical style raises your expectations a lot. But nothing substantial happens after that and the film proves to be quite monotonous and uninteresting with only few entertaining moments in its later part. Moreover it even becomes too heavy to handle with its prolonged messy climax wherein many sudden characters jump into the script from no-where to contribute nothing.

Co-produced by Hrishitaa Bhatt (of HAASIL fame) and directed by Shubh, who also plays the hero in the film, being the leader of the four friends, SPMJ could have been much better. No doubt the effort put in by team is sincere and appreciable. But the actor-director is not able to bring the same impact on the screen which he may have felt reading it on the paper. Hence all his efforts and sincerity remains a one sided affair since the movie is not able to connect with its audience after its initial 15 minutes.

Though there are few funny moments and dialogues in this attempted comedy, but the humor mostly goes over the top and becomes repetitive too which is painful to bear after a certain point. Also at many places the direction seems to be pretty ordinary and casual. For instance, Aamna Sharif's make-up is horrible as if she has not slept from days, the Police Officials wear 3 different colors of uniforms which looks silly, the time frame shown on the screen corners at regular intervals means nothing, there is a India-Pakistan match going on with the proceedings which has no connect whatsoever and most importantly I was shocked to see how The Manager of an International Airport was shown by the director as a clerk, wearing a casual shirt and jeans having no sub- ordinates to work for him in his Office.

The film has a catchy title track and an OK cinematography which rarely goes out into the outdoors as per the script. Performance wise Shubh is fine giving the right expressions along with Chitrak, Pratik and the kid. But they could have been a lot more impressive with a better writing. The best performance comes from Saurabh Shukla, who plays the Special Officer, supported well by Raghuvir Yadav as the Inspector. Aamna Sharif is simply there to provide some glamour in an all men script. Mushtaq Khan is fine in his short role but Zakir Hussain is wasted in a very short cameo.

In all, SPMJ just remains an attempt towards making a fine comedy, which can be seen in the comfort of your home and that too when there is nothing coming on TV. But definitely not worth going to the theater.