May 7, 2010 (Sampurn Wire):Badmaash Company - Dull n boring

Rating: 2 out of 5*

Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Meiyang Chang, Vir Das and Anupam Kher

Director: Parmeet Sethi

Karan (Shahid Kapoor) is clear that he doesn’t want to spend his life as a worker drone like his dad. Karan dreams of getting rich quick. He starts out as a carrier for a small-time smuggler and eventually moves his way up to bigger con jobs and bigger bucks. Three friends Bulbul (Anushka), Zing (Meiyang Chang) and Chandu (Vir Das) join him on this stratospheric journey, which ends in self-destructive decadence, avarice, fighting, break-up, regret and various life lessons learnt with most important one being honesty is the best policy.

While the first half still holds together (despite boring and slowly shot con jobs) because of the bonding between the four friends. Problems crop up majorly in the second half which makes the movie a complete downer. What makes it more unexciting is the fact that after moving to Manhattan the characters attempt to repeat the exact same scheme that they had done in India making it all a predictably tedious watch. Karan’s legal but totally outlandish scheme involving a line of defective shirts called the Bleeding Madras appears completely foolish.

Actor turned director Parmeet Sethi of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge fame could have come up with a better script. Thought at heart it appears well intended, it offers nothing new apart from a few oft repeated moral lessons. The casino shot sequences remind you of Kevin Spacey starrer 21.

The actors lift the ordinary film to an average watch. Shahid is very good and so is Anushka Sharma in her hot new spicy avatar completely opposite to her debut role in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Meiyang Chang oozes cool and Vir Das is hilarious. Pawan Malhotra and Anupam Kher are good in the limited scope they get to display their caliber.

Also on the upside is Pritam’s peppy score. The songs are already climbing the charts and have been shot very well.

Badmaash Company is not a disaster but it just does not offer anything new. Watch it only if you are a huge Shahid fan.

-Sampurn Wire