Movie: Mubarakan
Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Athiya Shetty, Ileana Dcruz, Pawan Malhotra, Ratna Pathak Shah, Karan Kundra, Rahul Dev
Director: Anees Bazmee
What's it about:
Anees Bazmee has helmed some of the funniest Hindi films like No Entry, Welcome, Singh is King etc. Now he follows it up with Mubarakan, which is about a big fat Punjabi family wedding, a comedy of errors. Throw in two nephews in love, and a crazy uncle and you have the recipe for a mad comedy. The plot of Mubarakan like every Anees Bazmee movie is anything but simple. Confusion and misunderstandings run mayhem in a story of twins who fall in love with girls who are getting married to the other brother. There's a parallel track of family feud, brother-sister animosity over an ego clash and much more. Arjun plays the double role of Charan and Karan, two twins separated at birth to become cousin brothers. Anil Kapoor plays the role of Kartaar who is mamu and chachu to these twins. Neha Sharma and Karan Kundra are an additional twist to this confused storyline. How Karan and Charan manage to convince their families to accept their respective girlfriends against all odds culminates in a hilarious climax that also has an emotional punch.
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What's hot:
Mubarakan is different from other Anees Bazmee film, because this is a family comedy that revolves around a big fat Punbaji (destination) wedding! A brilliant ensemble cast. The humour is clean and situations, tracks are funny without relying on dialogues and punch lines. The characters are so well etched that you take to them from the very first frame. Be it the disparity between Charan and Karan or Anil Kapoor's over the top loud chachu act with a British slang, Bazmee manages to get you involved in the narrative early on. Mubarakan is a refreshing change from slapstick and sex comedies that plague Bollywood. In what seems like a nod to Sooraj Barjatya, Bazmee makes a comedy out of a wedding scenario. Arjun Kapoor delivers his career best. As he plays both Karan and Charan convincingly. breaks the shackles. For Arjun playing a loud boisterous Punjabi boy comes easy, so slipping under the skin of the shy and quiet Charan must have been quite a task. Anil Kapoor plays to the gallery and gets all the laughs. Without Anil Kapoor, Mubarakan wouldn't be the film it is. Ileana has terrific chemistry with Arjun and shines in the comic scenes while the demure Athiya is endearing. Ratna Pathak Shah and Pawan Malhotra are a delight.
What's not:
The humour in Mubarakan does take a bit of time to set in. Don't go expecting the gags and jokes to come early on. Bazmee takes time to establish the emotional connect between the characters giving us their back stories before beginning the fireworks. The Punjabi songs are many and while they will appeal to the North, the soundtrack could have had more Hindi tracks. The climax of Mubarakan has a speech and while it is imperative to the storyline it did seem a bit gimmicky.
What to do
Mubarakan is the cleanest entertainer and deserves to be watched for its high entertainment value.
Ratings: 4 stars
