You have to give it to writer-director Ranjit Kapoor for pulling this off. To take a Hindi movie superstar and make him play himself in a fictitious setting is not new, but to let him freely explore his bad side while having a total blast and thoroughly entertaining his audience by playing his starry self is.
Hadbahedi, a small town that wants recognition invites a Bollywood superstar who was born in it. Rishi Kapoor arrives, full of himself, and gets the royal treatment he expects minus the luxuries. While Hadbahedi is illuminating itself with the movie star, Chintuji (that’s Kapoor’s real nickname, by the way) has plans to contest for elections from there.
A series of hilarious events follow, thanks to the harrowed actor who wants to leave as soon as possible, and the village people who simply won’t let him go. The village folk, a simple, kind and happy lot, fall all over themselves to please Rishi Kapoor, and Chintuji slips on a slab of ice and falls, injuring a foot. The movie will have you splits as the wannabe politician gets increasingly frustrated and the hapless villagers do all kinds of things to appease him.
Memories from Rishi Kapoor’s life and references to his films are a-plenty, all woven intricately into the film.
Rishi Kapoor plays pain-in-the-ass-movie-star to the hilt as he makes a teetotal, vegetarian village bend its rules for him. Saurabh Shukla is effective as the film producer mentally beaten by Rishi Kapoor and on an occasion, pulped between a veteran scripwriter and starlet Sophie Choudhry. Priyanshu Chatterjee does justice to his role, but the terrorist angle wasn’t necessary and only made the movie drag a bit. Grusha Kapoor is good, and Kulraj Randhawa is hot!
The story has a moral lesson or two for the flawed human that Chintuji (in the movie) is, but nevermind the melodrama. Chintuji belongs to Rishi Kapoor, and I say he’s perfect for the Hindi version of My Cousin Vinny. Yeah, he can be that funny.
VERDICT
Rishi Kapoor, playing himself in and as Chintuji, has a whale of a time and will have you laughing hard almost throughout the movie. I’m not sure how many people would go for a movie like this, but those who do are guaranteed to come out pleased. And I didn’t know there could be something like a real nickname!
RATING: 3/5
The movie is funny.
Mehta Kya Kehta? 