Saat Uchakkey movie review: Eccentric, full of street humour

Director: Sanjeev Sharma

Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Aditi Sharma, Kay Kay Menon, Lushin Dubey, Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor, Vijay Raaz.

A comedic adventure film that has grown-up men as small-time crooks can be a fun ride all the way. It can be even more delicious as a comedy if the entire plot has an authentic feel, and the actors deliver their lines most unselfconsciously. In that sense, Saat Uchakkey takes off as a fun ride with several talented actors (Manoj Bajpayee, Kay Kay Menon, Vijay Raaz and others) doing their best, and mouthing the choicest swear words as street urchins most convincingly.

There’s a bit of a warning though for all those puritans who look the other way every time a cuss word is used in a film: this film may infuriate them; the dialogues are liberally laced with a never-ending trail of abuses! But there’s more to this lyricist-actor-writer Sanjeev Sharma directed film as it unexpectedly turns into a social satire too. Beginning with its burlesque extravaganza, the film shows a window to a life of offenders and thugs we come across every day, but never interact with.

Set against the gritty backdrop of Old Delhi, Saat Uchakkey starts out as a tale about Bichi (Annu Kapoor), a dreaded, crafty and ruthless criminal who is most feared for his deceitful ways. The opening scenes narrate how he, despite being in a tight security cell in a prison, escapes, and subsequently, goes about preaching on the streets of Old Delhi.

The narrative then moves to seven petty crooks whose blundering ways keep landing them into trouble through an exciting gamut of mystery, treachery and one crisis after another. No one is employed, and hence, they all need cash. One of them is Pappi (Manoj Bajpayee), who is in love with Sona (Aditi Sharma), an accomplice and an equal partner in their crime. Along with him, there is a gang comprising Jaggi (Vijay Raaz), Haggu (Nitin Bhasin), Ajji (Vipul Vij) and Babbe (Jatin Sarna) who are always looking out for opportunities to make a fast buck. They are an adventurous bunch who could even consider robbery if the going gets tough. In the midst of all this, there’s a cop Tejpal (Kay Kay Menon) too, who doesn’t seem to be morally compromised, and makes things miserable for them as he tries to foil all their attempts.

The rest of the film is about the larcenous adventures of these men who discover a haveli near the Red Fort that they all imagine is harbouring a fortune in gold with tonnes of wealth stashed away. They all then hatch a bright plan to drill underground the large haveli owned by Diwan (Anupam Kher) secretly. The plan soon unravels, thrusting the guys on a wild journey with dangerous consequences...

One may not find any one of them likeable in the least, but as characters, they cannot be faulted. Their use of cuss words and obscenity in their dialect gives these characters a flavour that’s rarely seen in Bollywood, where either they go over-the-top while displaying their seamy side, or else, are too sanitised in their approach. At one level, it’s an eccentric comedy likely to be best enjoyed by those steeped in the street humour, but then, it doesn’t quite spin its imaginative conceit into comic gold, and offers only some minor pleasures along the way. It is while adding flesh to a non-existent storyline that the film flounders leaving poor viewers puzzled.

Had director Sharma in his debut stuck to black humour, or used great lines to lift up the screenplay, we would have had a winner. The results occasionally border on being precious, with the humour being more effective in the quirkier moments.

More problematically, the film, though filled with surprising, artful flourishes, quickly descends into an ineptly paced, toothless ridicule. The final sequence looks a bit unnecessary and tries to add, then undermine, a bit of moralising.

Among the cast, each one of them is likeable-loser character, and stands out with flashes of brilliance and their perfect comic timing and believable ease of lingo. Bajpayee isn’t merely funny as this ambitious man with dreams; he is also someone with a crass wardrobe and a seething rage within. After his sterling performance in Aligarh, Bajpayee is once again, a pleasure to watch. There’s another gem of a performance by the sprightly Aditi Sharma as Sona. But despite its best intentions, it’s the kind of 139 minutes that you expected to be better than it turned out. Nevertheless, even if it lets you down there’s enough that’s interesting to keep you tuned in.