Cast: Harman Baweja, Prashant Narayanan, Sunny Deol, Ayesha Khanna, Aditya Pancholi
Director: Sanamjit Singh Talwar
There have been many a gangster sagas -- both in Bollywood as well as Hollywood -- some funny, some serious and a chosen few achieving cult status. So where does first-time director Sanamjit Singh Talwar's 'Dishkiyaon' fit in? Erm...we are not sure.
'Dishkiyaoon' is the story of a Mumbai-based gangster and his struggle to control the pulsating, profitable underworld empire.
The film begins with Harman 'Viki Kartoos' Baweja narrating his story to Sunny 'Lakwa' Deol, a Haryanvi driver. Baweja, who sports a messy hairdo, almost-handlebar mustache and impressive six-pack abs, looks fresh and earnest in this role. Deol, on the other hand, sports a strange hairpiece (well, we hope it is a hairpiece) and a really disturbing unibrow.
But before we go any further, we want to give a round of applause to the script-writer of the film. The story, which is narrated in a linear, no-nonsense manner is held together -- no, lifted above the ordinary, by the unintentionally cheesy and hilarious dialogues.
Gems such as, "Main hamesha se hi gangster banna chahta tha," delivered earnestly by Baweja, while playing a game of Snakes and Ladders, or "Mere ko Yash Chopra wala pyaar karna hai, Prem Chopra wala nahin," by Narayanan amidst a gunfire, and "Miss Mary ya Mother Dairy -- tumko konsi chahiye," also by Narayanan as he swipes through buxom ladies' photographs, were quite hilarious.
There is a motley of characters surrounding the wannabe gangster -- notably, Narayanan as Tony Mota, Anand Tiwari as Rocky and Aditya Pancholi as Inspector Khan. Narayanan is fun, lovable, if slightly eccentric, and Tiwari is perfect as the jealous henchman. Newcomer Ayesha Khanna is adequate as Viki's love interest, Meera.
Even though the film is based in Mumbai and revolves around The Underworld, none of the characters speak in the popular, yet done-to-death "Aa rela hai, jaa rela hai" twang. The cinematography is realistic and fresh -- especially the car chase in a desert in the Middle East.
The first half of the film is quite funny -- with the cameras moving slick-slack through present and past sequences. Every character is introduced with a punch-line -- which adds some entertainment value to the story. But 'Dishkiyaoon' loses pace after the interval, and a lot of action and bloodshed later, ends rather abruptly.
We saw Baweja last in 'What's Your Rashee' in 2009 and in a small cameo in 'Gori Tere Pyaar Mein' last year. He has put all the free time to good use, we can see, and there is a definite improvement in his acting as well as screen presence. Despite the mustache and the rugged outfits, he still looks like an under-cover Hrithik Roshan in some scenes.
With no big stars, apart from Deol and Shetty (in an item number at the end), the film fails to capture audience's full attention. A weak story-line and amateurish direction, coupled with average performances, the film disappoints on many levels.
Watch it for the unintentionally hilarious dialogues in the first half.
Rating: 2/5
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