Mubarakan review: To watch or not?

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Mubarakan review: To watch or not?

Does the uncle-nephew combo create magic on screen? Find out -

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Published: Fri 28 Jul 2017, 2:13 PM

Last updated: Fri 28 Jul 2017, 4:23 PM

The Anees Bazmee brand of comedy has loyal fans with its mix of mistaken identities, improbable confusions, and a series of twists all leading to that finale where everything is sorted.

Mubarakan is no exception and since you review the film for its genre and positioning than for any contribution to cinema as art, let us say, it is packaged well to appeal to Bazmee-genre fans. It doesn't tax you, it doesn't elate you, and it just goes by formula.

But making a Mubarakan or writing it is not easy. Ok, are you ready for this challenge?

We have identical twins Karan and Charan (Arjun Kapoor); one lives in London and the other in Punjab. Karan loves Sweety (Ileana D'Cruz); Charan loves Nafisa (Neha Sharma). When Karan is sought out to married to Binkle (Athiya Shetty), the daughter of a London-based business tycoon, he despatches the turban-wearing Charan, who promptly takes a liking for Binkle. But since he 'loves' Nafisa, he must get out of the alliance and with his jovial uncle Kartar (Anil Kapoor), he does a 'druggie' act that leads to a huge family showdown.

Cut back to Punjab, where Charan's foster-dad (Kartar's brother), decides to marry him off to Sweety, while Karan's foster-mother (Kartar's sister), fixes his alliance with Binkle. To sort the mess, Kartar decides to bring all the protagonists to London, where Nafisa too joins.

If all this is not already confusing, think now: How will Karan marry Sweety? How will Charan marry, well, whoever that girl because the boy falls for anyone...! What will happen to Binkle? And what about Nafisa? How will this complicated mess be solved, even if it is left to divine intervention?

Now imagine writing all this into a script and shooting it. Such arduous tasks are what Bazmee takes on himself with every film of his. He sure knows the craft of carrying along such goofball comedies, and his strength lies in his choice of actors.

In Mubarakan, Arjun Kapoor plays the part of Karan and Charan with an endearing earnestness. Arjun is yet to prove his versatility as an actor but the young man sure knows what many of his seniors, who made their name in comedy, never got: That doing comedy is not making faces.

But he is put up against the formidable Anil Kapoor and powerhouse performers such as Pavan Malhotra and Ratna Pathak. It is their show all the way, especially Anil's. Despite the lack of great lines that would have made Mubarakan even breezier, Anil makes it punchy with his command of the medium. The ladies in the film, as is obvious, do not have much to do or even have great personalities.

The film's strength as an easy ride also comes from the man-behind-the-scene - the very talented editor Rameshwar S. Bhagat (the man behind Sultan et al). To stitch together the film, without much lagging (other than a totally unneeded song in the second half), he makes the film quite watchable.

With foot-tapping music and some fun moments, Mubarakan doesn't tax you; it is imminently forgettable, of course, but with Anil, Arjun and team, you don't feel too bored. Well, what else must general entertainment fare deliver?

Mubarakan
Starring: Anil Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor
Directed by Anees Bazmee
Now playing at theatres in the UAE
Rating: 2/5


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