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UNGLI
DIRECTOR: RENSIL D’SILVA
GENRE: DRAMA, COMEDY
STARRING: EMRAAN HASHMI, RANDEEP HOODA, SANJAY DUTT, KANGANA
RANAUT, NEIL BHOOPALAM, NEHA DHUPIA, MAHESH MANJREKAR, ANGAD BEDI
FINAL VERDICT: ***
“Jab ghee sidhi aur tedi, dono ungliyon se nahi nikalta; tab
beech ka raasta apnana padta hai.” Wielding the middle finger and mouthing
these words, Abhay (Hooda) indeed packs a punch. These words make a lot of sense
and make us ponder about the corruption aspect in our nation.
There have been several films in the past that have dwelled upon
the topic of corruption, and the path used by the ‘stupid common man’. Ungli
succeeds in showing the corruption from the profundity. Ungli is about four
friends (Hooda, Ranaut, Bedi, and Bhoopalam) who form a ‘rebel gang’ of sorts,
in order to tackle corruption. How they go about their job and deliver justice
makes the movie an interesting watch for sure. A retiree not getting his due pension;
the famous ‘chamchagiri’ done on the city walls by the netas; the nexus between
the training school chaps and the RTO officials are some of the issues which
have been highlighted in the movie.
Enter Emraan Hashmi, and there is that dose of liveliness.
Hashmi is effortless as always and his dialogues are a treat for every B town
lover. Its his style and panache which makes him a heartthrob. But regrettably,
Hashmi has been under utilized in the movie. If you expect that Hashmi is here
to steal the show, then you’re horribly mistaken. Like the Ungli Gang, the
movie is also a complete team work, and everyone chips in with their roles.
Sanjay Dutt plays ACP Kale, but is disappointing. There were
disturbing things going on in Dutt’s real life while filming the movie and that
is pretty visible in his reel life. Dutt is nowhere near his best, and his part turns out to be damp squib. To
make things worse, the dubbing for Dutt has been pathetic. In one of the
scenes, it is clearly evident that some amateur mimicry artist is dubbing for
Dutt. That is a big let down.
Talking about let downs, Angad Bedi is another victim. His
over acting in certain scenes dampens the mood. The dialogues in some cases are
those typical double meaning one’s which make sense only to the writer, Milap
Zaveri. Zaveri day by day is falling into an infamous stereotype. He started
the trend of double meaning dialogues with Shootout At Wadala; followed it in
the creepy Grand Masti and now in Ungli. It’s time that Zaveri changes his
style.
Hooda is great as Abhay, the journalist. Neha Dhupia, who is
rarely seen these days, is pretty good as well. Kangana Ranaut though has been
criminally wasted. After doing a critically acclaimed film like Queen, one
wouldn’t expect Ranaut to do the role of Maya. But the girl from Himachal
defies logic and does the role. Her
screen time is negligible.
The positives of the movie are in its locations, music and
the storyline. The bottomline lies in empowering the common man and that has
been shown well. When you associate Emraan Hashmi in a film, the music is bound
to be awesome. Ungli too follows the trend. Dance Basanti and the title track
are catching and groovy. The locations
cover the suburban parts of Mumbai and the Bandra Worli Sea Link has been shown
on several occasions.
However, Rensil D’Silva could have easily made it better. Its
an honest attempt on a sensitive issue nonetheless. There was always the scope
for improvement in the movie. To make it in a better way, more issues of corruption
could have been shown.
Anyways, its an entertaining flick with a social message and
is bound to be liked by the viewers.
