Selfiee Review – Rediff.com movies – Rediff.com
Malayalam cinema is not the identical as Telugu or Tamil, however Bollywood’s blanket method fails to see the excellence in Selfiee, observes Sukanya Verma.
The final time Akshay Kumar appeared on display, he performed a film star telling his colleague-on-the-run to confess to his crime after unintentionally bumping off a sort-of fan on the highway.
In his newest too, he performs a film star, solely this time he is on the receiving finish of his primary fan’s wrath over a driving license.
The disaster in Selfiee is infinitely smaller in scale, however the media circus it provides rise to resembles the spoofy outcry in An Motion Hero.
As telling that’s in regards to the state of affairs, on the centre of Selfiee‘s fracas is the age-old bond between movie of us and their followers the place the latter’s solely nightmare is their idol turning out nothing like they dream, a state of affairs captured in Shah Rukh Khan’s Fan.
Director Raj Mehta’s Hindi remake of Driving License, Lal Jr’s Malayalam hit penned by the late Sachy, chronicles a no-nonsense celebrity and motorized vehicle inspector clashing over satisfaction and allow.
Malayalam cinema is not the identical as Telugu or Tamil, however Bollywood’s blanket method fails to see the excellence.
The place Sachy’s narrative nuances and main man Prithviraj’s superlative complexity elevated its storm in a teacup premise right into a plausible tussle of privilege and entitlement, Selfiee‘s have to increase on an already overstated discord solely highlights the slightness of the issue somewhat than give a glimpse into human fallacy.
Over mat kar, Akshay Kumar scoffs at a man in the direction of the tip of the film, which begins with him giving a little bit dedication speech to his followers.
The actor’s politics of earnestness — an image-conscious celeb identified to make information for paying the best earnings tax within the nation, apologising after endorsing dangerous tobacco, selling menstrual hygiene to Nandu and the world, magnanimously agreeing to take solely three fourth area in a film full of ladies or asserting his choice to resign his Canadian passport proper earlier than the discharge of Selfiee — makes him tailor made for the half.
Selfiee performs to his self-aggrandiSing imagery and, not like the unique, is a tad sympathetic in the direction of his fan as effectively.
In Driving License, the frequent man is made to eat a humble pie at each juncture.
Right here, he will get a second or two of herogiri in Emraan HashmI’s sensible aleck pores and skin. For all his zeal, Hashmi strikes a bit uppity for the half and can’t fairly pull off a ‘bechara‘.
One other essential change is the celebrity’s predicament.
Within the unique, Prithviraj’s irritation stems from his private issues and frustration of not having the ability to accompany his spouse overseas for medical therapy. Within the remake, the hero is way much less rankled, his spouse match as a fiddle.
And so, a lot ado about nothing begins when Bollywood star Vijay Kumar (Akshay) arrives in Bhopal for a shoot.
Owing to a bureaucratic glitch, his driving license is not in place, which he urgently requires for filming a automobile sequence and saving the panic-struck producer of his over finances venture earlier than flying off to the US together with his spouse (Diana Penty, her emerald diamond ring is all that caught my eye) and welcome their child out of surrogacy (Raj Mehta’s superficial preoccupation with fertility continues after Good Newwz, which handled IVF being pregnant).
Hiring a stunt double would have saved him from a world of hassle, however the place’s the enjoyable in that?
Enter his largest fan and RTO inspector Om Prakash Aggarwal (Hashmi).
Each Om and his school-going son are Vijay’s largest admirers and seize the primary alternative to satisfy their favorite and expedite his paperwork. However a foolish misunderstanding will get of their manner ensuing in a battle of egos.
Fuelling this battle for silly motives is Om’s spouse’s favorite (a spunky however underused Nushrratt Bharuccha), a pale, ageing actor (a droll Abhimanyu Singh) whose tacky comedy monitor is forcibly linked into the central plot. Ditto for the bumbling native politician (Meghna Malik) attempting to realize mileage out of Vijay Kumar’s star presence in her jurisdiction.
If in any respect there are any real comedian moments, they contain Akshay and his fidgety, flashy producer Akashdeep whose vital different Sheeba performed the Khiladi‘s heroine in his third launch, Mr Bond, which launched in 1992, the identical yr two of the actors Akshay prances round in Selfiee — Adah Sharma and Mrunal Thakur — had been born.
However the Bollywood hero neither ages nor does any unsuitable.
He’ll go all of the checks.
He’ll reply all questions.
He’ll win over his followers.
He’ll win over his foes.
He’ll have the final phrase.
He’ll even romance a heroine half his age, however she’ll be the one with points starting from flatulence to fertility.
Pose subsequent to him at your individual peril and you will quickly discover out the hero you need will not be at all times the hero you want.
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