Firangi (Historical/Social)
Critics Rating: 2/5
Cast: Kapil Sharma, Ishita Dutta, Kumud Mishra, Aanjjan Shrivastava, Edward Sonnenblick, Monica Gill
Direction: Rajiev Dhingra
Duration: 2 hours 40 minutes
Language: Hindi (U/A)
Story:
The period is 1921. India is still under the British Raj. Manga (Kapil), an ordinary lad from a village in Punjab, is considered blessed because he is a breech (a child that comes out of womb with its legs first). And since breech babies have special curing abilities, a British officer Mark Daniels (Edward) who has excruciating back trouble, employs Manga as his khaas aadmi who will help him cure his bad back...
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Review:
Firangi is part fable, part real. But frankly, it adds up to a whole nothing. Set as it is in the pre-Independence period, the characters are expected to be childlike and innocent. But most end up behaving like buffoons.
The local King Indraveer (Kumud Mishra) who has one too many wives and too much wine is corrupt. He and a savvy well-placed British officer, Daniels attempt to displace an entire village just to put up his liquor factory. However, Manga who is in love with Sargi (Ishita) from the affected village is the one who tries to scuttle their devious plans. Sargi's grandfather, Lalaji (Aanjjaan) is a Gandhi bhakt who wants to defeat the Brits with non-violence. Lalaji has apprehensions about Manga because he works for the firangis but he ultimately warms up to the boy. As we said at the start, Firangi is too much of a fairy tale and should have been a chapter in a first-standard textbook.
Frankly, this film is a wasted exercise in story-telling. It is an even more frustrating movie experience. Through the first half, when the characters or should we say caricatures, are being established, you keep asking yourself — why, oh why am I here watching this?
In the second half, you find your answer. You know that the reason why you spent money on a ticket is because Kapil Sharma is one of the most followed stand-up comedians in the country. And you're sure watching him on the big screen will help you drive your blues away. However, what you have not bargained for is 2 hours, 40 films of tripe.
The pace of the first half is crippling and the second half, in which Kapil behaving like part child, part man and trying valiantly to save a village from the Machiavellian firangis, is unintentionally funny. However, for the most part, this film is more taxing than the lagaan levied by the British on the Indians.
Watch reruns of the Kapil Sharma show instead.
