Once ‘pun a time

ALL THE BEST 

The good, the bad and the gaudy 

Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn, Bipasha Bsu, Mughda Godse

Director: Rohit Shetty

Rating: Two and half stars 

Once ‘pun a time. Referring to the household ayah, a guy trills Baharon phool barsao mera mehboob ayah hai.  Quips are made about Slumdog Millionaire, and there’s this madcap moment involving Ajay Devgn (he’s dropped the `a’) sprinting after two Lady Lottas when actually he’s being chased by a bulldog. Bow wow. 

To be sure there are sight-`n’-sound gags which do pay off in Rohit Shetty’s All the Best, adapted from Paritosh Painter’s stageplay Uncle Samjha Karo, which itself was cadged from the 1960s farce Right Bed, Wrong Husband. Add to that a touch of Come September (1961) and you’re likely to gobble down one helluva fusion cuisine mishmash. Hang on though. In fact, the yay-yay news is that the result is digestible, perfect for a couple of laughs, a few titters and a haw-haw bellylaugh. Hyuk nyuk. 

Gratifyingly, Shetty in his bid to go the Hrishikesh Mukherjee  route avoids the rude, crude and lewd.  Note the excerpt from Chupke Chupke just in case you didn’t detect his noble intentions. For once, women aren’t made the butt of scabrous jokes, and wah-wah there are no homophobic cracks either. Frequently, David Dhawan has doffed his hat to Hrishida, too, but has always incurably lapsed into vulgarity of the wink-wink-snigger-kind. Shetty goes clean, as if he wanted to disinfect Mumbaiya comedy. Indeed, big brownie points to him for that. 

Still the pasteurised package is, at best, fun in parts. Otherwise the pace drags (especially  before Sanjay Dutt makes his entry), the editing is inexpert and the set designs belong top a Raspberry Falooda Factory. The flowers are plastic, the home décor is a salute to the Padmalaya potty-pourris, and the living room curtains, omigawd, the curtains!  Gaudyness gracious me really. 

The costumes are a riot. The wild variety of T-shirts convinces you  to never dare to wear one in public, what with Popeye and op-art motifs. Moreover as scripted, the plot premise is as implausible as a three-rupee coin. Oink. Throuhgout you feel the two down-at-heel men (Devgn-Fardeen Khan), who are trying to hang on to a kesar-pista-tinted villa  in Goa, could talk their problems over with Uncle Kool (Sanjay Dutt). He’s not Anaconda, is he?  

Why make him believe that his prospective niece-in-law is Bipasha Basu instead of Mughda Godse? Unless Uncle prefers more established heroines, the switcheroo between the two mini-skirts, could have been sorted faster than buying a Diwali firecracker. Kabaaam! 

Anyway now you’re into manic malarkey. Uncle Dutt likes Bipashaji, is indifferent to Mughdaji, conducts this at cross-purposes conversation with the Phool Barsao Aayah (Ashwini Kalsekar), deal with don Johnny Lever whose hijinks give you fever, plus a wacko in polka dots who keeps snarling, “Just cheeeeeel.” A Himesh Reshammiya fan he? 

For a rib-tickler the finale is a bit tame, what with goons with faces covered in boot polish fetching up to  talk in Labutto (Lishotto?..can’t figure out) lingo. What Labutto is you’ll never find out, but it seems Uncle was carrying a potful of nimboo achaar for the country’s President. By this point, you’re looking at your wrist watch repeatedly. Guys brevity is the soul of wit. Remember? 

In the behind-the-camera scenario, the script is remarkable essentially for its witty dialogue. Someone wants to start a Coffee series music label to compete with T Series!!The camerawork and Pritam’s music score are not up to scratch. 

Of the performances, Fardeen Khanwho’s assigned a juicy role leaves it dull and dry. Bipasha Basu and Mughda Godse flutter around in roles as skimpy as their outfits. Compared to them, Ashwini Kalsekar has a sharper sense of comic timing. Ajay Devgan is correctly restrained. By the way, several allusions are made to the Munnabhai series. Here Sanjay Dutt is okey-dokey but that’s it, just like the rest of this ha-ha-ho-hum-ha-ha enterprise..that leaves you with mixed feelings.  

Good, bad, good, bad, you get the drift.