Movie Review 'Dishkiyaaon': Warning! You may just want to shoot yourself
Cast: Harman Baweja, Sunny Deol, Ayesha Khanna, Prashant Narayanan
Director:Sanamjit Singh Talwar
Rating: Half star
Bollywood has two types of films: the intelligent ones and those clichéd “leave-brains-at-home” ones. Dishkiyaaon is a pathbreaker. For we life-loving people, it’s the “bring a noose to the theatre” variety.
The film is the story of Viki, who later becomes Viki Kartoos, an educated gangster who also has a normal but strained life with his father, a cameo played by Rajit Kapoor. If the voiceover is anything to go by, then the frequently bullied Viki always dreamed of becoming a gangster. After being taken under the wings of Mota Tony, a ganglord, Viki is groomed into a goon who handles Tony’s accounts and conceptualises schemes for the group, but doesn’t pull a trigger. He meets Lakwa, played by Sunny Deol, who sports a Haryanvi accent. Though more on that later. Lakwa listens to Viki’s underworld saga about friends who turned foes. Somewhere in all that narration is a love interest Meera, played by debutant Ayesha Khanna. A lot of bullets and rain sequences later, the film does end in an interesting twist.
There are so many things that are fundamentally grating about the film that the only way to review it would be first to look at the positives. Harman Baweja really does a largely bearable role and it is fair to say that he’s clearly improved since his sci-fi flick with Priyanka Chopra. But probably not enough to be the selling point of the film. The star performer would be Prashant Narayanan, who effortless portrays Tony, even when he’s mouthing such 90s’ lines. Including this one: “Mereko Yash Chopra wala pyaar chahiye, Prem Chopra wala nahin.”
There are some well-shot action scenes and a plethora of clichés but the film largely entertains. Sadly, not in the way it intended to.
Ayesha Khanna had a few scenes, including a Bollywood classic of a pretty babe playing a cordless electric guitar with no amp in sight. Barring the smoky eye makeup that highlighted her brandy-coloured eyes, Ayesha has little else to show. Pretty and fleeting, that sums up her performance. Sunny Deol was possibly one of the most experienced actors in the film and there’s little he offers apart from a distracting fake unibrow and an annoying Haryanvi accent. He even spouts nuggets such as “Eet eej poetic”.
Aditya Pancholi’s is another wasted role. All gangster flicks must have a cop, no? Even a bad one who plays by his own set of rules. Pancholi’s is probably the prettiest face after Ayesha’s and that’s saying something about the film. Watch out for Prashant, he’s the GenNext Vijay Raaz-meets-Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The rest are simply stuck in the 90s web of formulaic films and OTT performances. Verdict? Don’t waste your time on it. Watch reruns of Taarak Mehta Ka Ulta Chashma instead.
