Phata Poster Nikhla Hero (2013) - Hindi Movie Review

Phata Poster Nikhla Hero (2013) - Hindi Movie Review

Cast :

• Shahid Kapoor as Vishwas Rao
• Ileana D'Cruz as Kajal
• Padmini Kolhapure
• Darshan Jariwala
• Saurabh Shukla
• Sanjay Mishra
• Zakir Hussain
• Mukesh Tiwari
• Rana Jung Bahadur
• Deepika Kamaiah
• Tinnu Anand
• Nargis Fakhri (special appearance in an item song)
• Salman Khan as himself in a special appearance

Directed by : Rajkumar Santoshi
Produced by : Ramesh Taurani, Ronnie Screwvala, Siddharth Roy Kapur
Written by : Rajkumar Santoshi
Music by : Pritam
Cinematography : Ravi Yadav
Editing by : Steven Bernard
Studio : Tips Music Films

Films like Phata Poster Nikla Hero make me wonder about the larger purpose. What drove the makers to make this film? So, here we have the theme of a wannabe actor landing himself in situations which force him to become a real life hero. Squeezed in you have a mother's aspirations for her son. All of this is made out to be silly, just in case you take any of this seriously. But, then the laughs drain out because of repetitions and/or labored explanations. The story knows not where to stop and you are running around in circles much like the characters in supposedly comic climax fight sequence.

Andaz Apna Apna had an elaborate and absolutely hilarious last fight sequence - purely because it was silly beyond comprehension. Phata Poster Nikla Hero seemed to be gearing up to something similar. Unfortunately, it wasn't even close. Also, the sensibilities have changed since the 90s too. Which pretty much can be said of all of Phata Poster Nikla Hero.

From the texture of the film to characters like the righteous mother - the film has a very dated feel about it. As if the makers were relishing nostalgia, rather than make a fresh film. The only thing fresh about the film is Shahid Kapoor's performance. Yes, the role and the film's genre require him to be loud and so he is. Yet, there is a certain composure about his performance within the context of his character. He over-acts and yet there is some constraint to not get annoying.

Ileana D'Cruz on the other hand irritates soon enough, especially at places where she is required to pause between words for effect. The timing is all wrong. Though its cute to see Padmini Kolhapure back, her performance is as theatrical as it ever was. Darshan Jariwala, Zakir Hussain, Sudhir Mishra all go about their dos like they would in any third film that they do.

I must say though, there are times when you can't help but laugh at the silliness on screen. Much like Andaz Apna Apna - despite the annoying self-referencing jokes strewn across the film. But, of course, these times are few and far between. Less often than the completely out-of-context songs that are picturised in a completely different tone to make the misfit even worse.

In general, I find silly comedy cumboresome. Even Andaz Apna Apna, arguably the silliest of them all took its time to grow on me. At least, it went all out there. Phata Poster Nikla Hero seems like the writers lost steam within 30 minutes of run-time. How are we supposed to hold up for another two hours?