Customer Reviews

Bhagam Bhag

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In 2006 Bollywood superstars Akshay Kumar and Govinda paired up for the frenetic slapstick comedy/comic thriller BHAGAM BHAG (translation: "Scampering"). BHAGAM BHAG turns out to be one of those movies where the bits of comic gold tend to make up for the overall silly and cheesy tone. Yeah, I kinda liked this film.

The plot: After 30 years in show business, stage director Champak Chaturvedi (Paresh Rawal) finally gets the big break, an offer to take his Indian musical theater troupe to London. Bunty (Akshay Kumar) and Babla (Govinda) are two amorous performers in that troupe and they kick off the plot by making unwelcome advances towards the lead female, who promptly quits. This leaves Champak and company in a lurch, and, to make amends, Bunty and Babla attempt to find a replacement girl in London.

You'll have to see how this happens, but the two somehow end up being involved with hapless drug dealers, the London police, and roughneck would-be actors. But things really get out of control when a murder implicates Bunty, Babla, and Champak (yes, the poor director gets dragged into the mess). Soon, the three are frantically running around in London, trying to exonerate themselves while being pursued by the police.

They do manage to find a replacement girl for the show. But, the way things are going for them, it's only fitting that she's suicidal.

At 2 hours 38 minutes long, a lot of silliness happens in this movie. The comedy comes at you quick and fierce, but it's a hit or miss thing. Mostly it's a miss. But I still like the film because the bits which do work are simply laugh-out-loud hysterical. Most of my favorite moments have to do with the clueless drug dealers who come to believe that Bunty and Babla are really secret police. And then they keep running into them. It got so I even started feeling bad for these criminals. Also, Paresh Rawal, probably pound for pound Bollywood's top character actor, does well with what he's given. Dude's consistent. The scenes with the tough aspiring actors are grating, the low point being when the leader of that gang breaks both his legs but, during the climax, manages to run around in light leg casts.

Don't look too closely at the characters, they're all cardboard. It's not that kind of movie, anyway. Akshay Kumar, in several other comedies, has already shown that he does very well in this genre (Hera Pheri, WELCOME, Garam Masala, SINGH IS KINNG), so it's not surprising that he turns in the best comic performance here. However, a mean streak running thru Akshay's character might turn off some viewers. There's a scene where Akshay was actually contemplating abandoning a passed-out girl lying on the street. Akshay and Govinda's nonstop bickering is funny, although Govinda, who himself used to be a huge Bollywood star but now looks chunkier than ever, plays second fiddle to Akshay. More restrained than in his other fims, Govinda still comes with his rapid-fire delivery of lines, which I like.

The movie's underlying themes are clutter and commotion, an attempt at rapid-fire lunacy which easily fails to achieve heights of inspired screwball. So all over the place is BHAGAM BHAG that there's even a whiff of Hitchcock's VERTIGO here. And if you're expecting a romantic angle, Akshay and Lara Dutta provide one. However, Lara Dutta, never the best of actresses, may still look very fine, but she's overshadowed by all the madcap shenanigans. But she does play a key role in the plot, and I enjoyed her sepulchral musings on death. I didn't think much of her chemistry with Akshay.

The movie culminates poorly, in yet another loopy sequence, with the movie's characters being hurled violently from a fire department engine's ladder, which has gone on the fritz. An unmomentous, unfunny way to cap off a movie.

All in all, though, even with the unrelenting volley after volley of cheap, inane laughs, the good stuff scattered here and there is enough to make me recommend BHAGAN BHAG.

Plus, I did like most of the catchy musical numbers, particularly the opening song, which I'm singing right now: "Signaaaal - pyar ka signal..."