BESHARAM - The name says it all

BESHARAM was released on a Wednesday keeping in mind the national holiday in our country, and with no major releases the week before, this film was guaranteed a grand opening. The film boasts of a director whose previous work set the balls rolling for the mass entertainers in Bollywood. It has the whole Kapoor trio of father-mom-son and some hummable songs. How bad could it be??? Must be a one time watch to be enjoyed on a lazy wednesday evening - i convinced myself and my friends - and set out to watch it. The only suggestion I can give to the others who has not seen it yet is PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THIS.

The title of the film takes itself too seriously. The film is loaded with crass humor and toilet jokes but the problem is that it never tries to be smart or even sensitive.We have seen Jim Carrey pull off films doing crazy things wearing even crazier outfits, but there was some great stories to back him up. The only thing reminiscent of the great comedian is the expression the protagonist and his sidekicks borrows from him at the start of the film. But it goes downhill from there. Besharam turns over every cliché from the Big Black Book of Hindi Movie Plots section that lists “Robin Hood-inspired Thief Takes Good Turn After Heart is Stolen."During its course it even tries to pay tribute to the 70s with its settings and songs but you don't even care for it after a while.

The film's plot is centered on a loutish car thief, Babli (Ranbir Kapoor), who must steal back a car that he sold to a murderous money launderer (Javed Jaffrey), when he falls for the poor girl who owned the car (newcomer Pallavi Sharda). The plot is wafer thin but if handled adequately, could have been less treacherous.Add to that the pair of Rishi and Neetu Kapoor who never decide upon their character shades and suddenly disappear in the second half only to return inexplicably by the end of the movie. The same can be said about the only likable actor Titu (Amitosh Nagpal) who never appears enough in the second half.

But whats most disappointing and a curious case is the association of one of the finest actors in this generation with this tragedy of a film. For a actor who has done varied roles in movies like Wake Up Sid, Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, Rockstar and Barfi, the actor sure needs to choose his roles carefully. He has become more of an icon for the youngsters and this film will certainly not go down too well with them. He never fails in way of acting, but his mannerisms and histrionics will certainly not make the parents happy who bought their kids along with them to view the film. I dare say that this movie wouldn't even have got a decent opening if not for the association of Ranbir Kapoor and that's a big responsibility and he has let his fans down on this one.

The movie has certainly got a good opening but it's future in the box office depends on its content and sadly there isn't any. But so didn't  some of the recent releases which has gone on to become hits. I don't care about it's collections, but don't waste your time and money on this tacky and off-putting mess.

MY VERDICT

* - Avoid this