What Is the Story About?
Maan Arora, Gaurav Jain, Rajesh Khanna and Honey Singh are buddies who live king-size sans filters. When Khanna’s girlfriend Vaishali cheats on him with her boss, the ‘bros’ do their bit to help him move on and plan to gatecrash her wedding. The night, however, gets wilder by the hour – one of them slaps a cop, the other gets married overnight, another falls for a junkie and hooligans now chase them. Where’s the tale headed?
Performances?
There’s no question about the exploits of its lead cast – be it the casually charming Sunny Singh or the formidable Manjot Singh, the generally funny Varun Sharma and the passable Jassie Gill – yet it’s high time the industry places their faith in them beyond such caricaturish, run-of-the-mill characters.
Patralekhaa Paul is quite convincing as Radha, both with her gravitas as a performer and comic timing. Ishita Raj is strictly okay in a brief role. The supporting cast – comprising Rajesh Sharma, Gopal Dutt et al – is solid, but the same can’t be said about their (half-baked) roles.
Analysis
Wild Wild Punjab is a typical Hindi film set in the heartland of Punjab that celebrates every stereotype associated with the region and gives it a buddy comedy twist – a.l.a The Hangover. It’s disappointing how it doesn’t make any attempt to upgrade a done-to-death template in a narrative loaded with guns, goons, drugs, cops, drunken brawls and a runaway bridegroom.
While frivolity and exaggeration are necessary ingredients to make a comedy work, it can’t be an excuse to make an entire film replete with silly, inane humour. Not much can blamed on Luv Ranjan’s premise – it’s basic but ‘workable’ enough. Three friends in the middle of a wild night help their jolted friend recover from a breakup and all hell breaks loose. The film’s all about their misadventures.
Despite the lazy, unimaginative approach towards the execution, the film remains eventful all along – the friends keep landing in a fresh, hot mess every time there’s hope in sight. All the goofball characters – a playboy Arora, a scarecrow Jain, a disturbed Khanna and a happy-go-lucky Singh – boasting of distinct identities, remain relatable. Yet, they’re given jaded one-liners and placed in unfunny situations.
Wild Wild Punjab had it all – a wacky idea, a capable cast in a rooted ambience and you want it to be good, escapist fun. Helmed by Simarpreet Singh, the film starts alright but loses steam mid-way, not knowing what to do with its plethora of characters and their issues. The screenplay (Harman Wadala, Sandeep Jain) goes for a toss and the makers don’t do much to elevate the proceedings from its mediocrity.
The film needed a brain that could’ve treated a familiar, mainstream tale with a newer lens. The humour between four butt-hurt friends just doesn’t take off. It’s consistently slapstick (read unoriginal), the characters find a way out of their catch-22 conflicts rather easily and the film does very little to stand out from similar products catered to the male gaze.
The narrative miraculously finds a way to get its act together only from the pre-climax portions – there’s a hilarious escape sequence from a gangster’s poultry farm, there’s a funny little twist to Baari Barsi at a wedding, the shootouts between the friends and the goons take a quirky turn and the writing is snappier. However, the revival is a tad too late to distract us from the film’s other missteps.
Wild Wild Punjab has its moments, but there’s very little chance of its shelf-life lasting beyond the 110-minute runtime. It tells the same old story, plays too safe and is not entertaining enough.
Music and Other Departments?
None of the songs linger in your mind after the film – Mika Singh’s Suttebaaz Haseena remains the only exception. Hitesh Sonik’s background score adds vigour to the proceedings on a handful of occasions. Cinematographer Nigam Bomzan and the production designer employ every trick in the book to lend a madcap flavour to the frames, complementing the plot. Luv Ranjan’s story has potential – but the result is no Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety or Pyaar Ka Punchnama. The verbal humour in the dialogues only works in parts.
Highlights?
Reasonable plot for a comedy
Good performances
Decent climax
Drawbacks?
Inconsistent writing
Poor screenplay
Unimaginative, done-to-death treatment
Did I Enjoy It?
No
Will You Recommend It?
No
Wild Wild Punjab Movie Review by Binged Bureau
We’re hiring!
We are hiring two full-time junior to mid-level writers with the option to work remotely. You need to work a 5-hour shift and be available to write. Interested candidates should email their sample articles to [email protected]. Applications without a sample article will not be considered.
