Review - Bheja Fry: An oil-free dish that's yummy

The oil being the glossy glitter associated with mainstream Hindi cinema. Isn't it a shame this movie is being called one without "stars"? As soon as Vinay Pathak makes me laugh with the way he locks his briefcase, he is my star. If I yell, "aaa-ouch" when Rajat Kapoor gets hit on his back that is already hurting, isn't he doing something right?

Dialogues that characters are made to repeat at every opportunity possible usually make me sick. But, this time, I could have been caught laughing out loud at a couple of such dialogues. Here, they are subtle and an integral part of the personality - not forced, not squeezed in to increase the line-count of the actor. I laughed in anticipation every time. For some reason even the predictable misunderstandings made me laugh. And just when I thought, "okay enough now, this is not going to be funny anymore", the character didn't say it again and the movie ended soon thereafter. The makers knew not to push it too far. That understanding, and the ability to resist the temptation to do it just one more time, is creditable. Sorry, didn't mean to take away anything from the lines that were not repeated. Most of the dialogues are witty and keep you in splits throughout!

Like some of the dialogues, things that irritate in real life are used to irritate the characters and get a laugh out of the audience. E.g., the sound effect used to exaggerate the noise created while handling a plastic bag is just hilarious and needs special mention. This is how cinematic liberties should be taken. And not just because you are allowed to.

There were a few things that, maybe, were 'outside the scope of the movie' from the maker's point of view but left the audience with questions. Like the inconsistency in Sarika's character. (Read more in the "what didn't work" section). The other problem was that in his very short role, Ranveer Shorey overacted. Yes, you read that right. Granted he was asked to pull a face and modulate his voice in a certain manner. But it didn't work. His character looked rather out-of-place in the otherwise believable set of characters. However, here is something that worked. More than half of Milind Soman's lines were very appropriately - Laugh. And he did laugh heartily.

The most wonderful part is that the movie is as much a joke on the simpleton clerk as it is on the arrogant upper class businessman. And yes, these certainly are the kinds of characters that you would be annoyed at if you were with them, but are ready to burst out laughing at because they are with someone else. They make you fondly remember the guys in college who were sources of entertainment not because of any "talent" but because of their personalities. I wouldn't wait for the DVD because this is the kind of comedy that needs to be encouraged - intentional.