Pagalpanti

wogma rating: Switch channels if it's on cable (?)

quick review:

Let me save you some time. Please don’t even read the review.

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Director: Anees Bazmee
Running time: 135 minutes
Genres: Slapstick
More Movie Info

There’s a marwadi proverb, “roto gayo, marta ki khabar laayo”, which translates to “you left with trepidation, so you had to bring back bad news.” Pagalpanti is the bad news I came back with. Of course, I had walked in sceptically.

Even the costumes in dance sequences were rather obnoxious.

In such cases, I am very aware of my bias. At the same time, I hold on to a tiny sliver of hope of being proven wrong. That hope was squashed in the first five minutes with a Golmaal déjà vu—something about a bunch of people setting up a new fireworks shop. After that, I set myself up with a single purpose for the next 2-plus hours—I will find at least one thing to like in the film. Despite the usual things that would surprise no one—no brain-ery with three good-for-nothings looking for a business to run and turning each one into a total failure, shoddy CGI, worse art production, loud background score, louder actors (blame it on the genre), misogyny, body-shaming, making fun of things like domestic violence, farmer’s debt and consent, even jingoism(!), dialogue breaking into sudden song-and-dance, song-and-dance suddenly breaking into dialogue too, and of course slapstick—I would find at least one thing to like in the film. Oh, I forgot lions showing up in the middle of a fight scene. Yep, lions.

And boy! Try as they did to make it difficult, I carried on. Even the costumes in dance sequences were rather obnoxious. I usually am in awe of the creative use of colours in the flamboyant dance pieces. But what is this!?!

What a ghastly clash of colours and style!

Anyway, I was on the look for one good thing. I am happy to report I found a few.
- The jobs given to Raj Kishore (John Abraham), Junkey (Arshad Warsi), and Chandu (Pulkit Samrat) by WiFi (Anil Kapoor).
- One step in the choreography of the wallah song.
- The deepening mess that Raj-Junkey-Chandu trio keeps falling into had me asking at least twice, “How will they get out of this?” I did not expect to be involved even for a second.
- The “ghost” song has a ridiculous connection with the context of the film, objectifies and is quite passable. However, if you give in to the situation, the haunting seductress bit gave meaning to the song.
- A couple of funny lines.
- The confidence with which Inaamulhaq pulls of Neeraj Modi.
- John Abraham trying to do comedy is actually amusing.
- They actually found a way, as convoluted as it may be, to provide the film with a purpose!

If nothing else, setting up this challenge for myself, I saved myself some bit of the agony. But why would you want to put yourself in that place?

- meeta, a part of the audience

33 reviewers(?) - 2 yays 7 so-so 24 nays

Warning: clicking on "full review" will take you to an external website that could contain spoilers.

Thumbs up, by Vishal Varma, Glamsham.com : ...PAGALPANTI is a mood fresher, a crazy fun ride that makes you smile and that’s what is needed nowadays. Smile on our face.... full review

Thumbs up, by Kamaal Rashid Khan, Khaleej Times : ...Anees Bazmee's direction is good and on par with his earlier comedy flicks. He has also inserted a hilarious warning in the film's trailer: 'Don't apply your brains here, as these guys have none'. This film has to be watched keeping your brains aside!... full review

So-So, by Subhash K Jha, Bolly Spice : ...Answers, I didn’t get. What I did get from Pagalpanti was some silly laughs. In a world filled with stress (think of what Saurabh Shukla, Iman-ul-Haq, Anil Kapoor or even Arshad Warsi must go through to look convincing in a comedy as absurd as this) Pagalpanti tells us, it’s okay to serenade the silly as long as you are not hurting anyone’s feelings.... full review

So-So, Bollywood Hungama : ...On the whole, PAGALPANTI fails to raise the desired amount of laughs due to lazy writing and recycled jokes. This movie is strictly for the audience who love brainless entertainers.... full review

So-So, by Devesh Sharma, Filmfare : ...Watch the Pagalpanti only if you have taken a vow never to miss every brainless comedy that gets released...... full review

So-So, by Madhuri v, Filmi Beat : ...Is matlabi duniya mein agar koi bematlab ki baat bol jaaye, toh us betmatlabi baat ka bhi bahut bada matlab hota hai," goes one of the lines in the film. Unfortunately, 'Pagalpanti' hardly gives you anything memorable to take back home... full review

So-So, by Pankhurie Mulasi, Movie Talkies : ...If you enjoy watching films like Housefull, you will love this one.... full review

So-So, by Nikita Roy, Pinkvilla : ...The major setbacks of the movie are its length, unwanted songs which have no scope in the storyline & unrealistic scenes and overacting by many actors. The plot, as mentioned, is clumsy and half-baked. Another major downer was bad computer graphics. On the whole, the movie is a brainless comic caper with its share of funny moments. If you are looking for some escapism, then this movie might be for you.... full review

So-So, by JOGINDER TUTEJA, Planet Bollywood : ...That holds true for audiences as well as smiles stay on throughout. A harmless film, it makes sure that for family audiences, and especially kids, there is something in there every 5-10 minutes to be thoroughly entertained. Go, watch it, and you won’t be disappointed.... full review

Thumbs down, by Anna MM Vetticad, annavetticadgoes2themovies : ...It is hard to be totally angry with a self-mocking film, especially considering that Bazmee manages to run through 165 minutes without a single wisecrack about rape, disability, farts and faeces... full review

Thumbs down, by Russel D'Silva, Bollywood Life : ...There's a lot of laughter on offer while watching Pagalpanti. It's just that you'll be laughing at the film rather than with it, and we don't think that was the intention of the makers. There's a silver lining though: Movies like Pagalpanti are perfect recipes to achieve cult status in later years as they perfectly fit in the so-bad-that-it's-good mould. I'm going with 1 star.... full review

Thumbs down, by Deepa Gahlot, Deepa Gahlot : ...John Abraham looks like he was waiting for someone to give him a badge and gun so that he could go off to another movie location and kill terrorists. Anil Kapoor should not even have been in this film, never mind how much money they paid him. All one can say to people who go ahead and watch this insanity after being warned is, stay sane!... full review

Thumbs down, by Anupama Chopra, Film Companion : ...Pagalpanti is so soul-sucking and brain-dead that it makes Bazmee’s last film Mubarakan look like high art. John said in an interview that they made this film to spread happiness but I came out depressed. In a few weeks, we will be entering a new decade. Hindi cinema needs to be better than this.... full review

Thumbs down, by T J Reddy, fullhyd.com : ...When a director insults the art of cinema by blatantly stealing another artist's expression, work and effort while simultaneously insulting his audience, his work deserves the harshest sentence possible. If you try to stop everyone you know from watching this, that's at least a start.... full review

Thumbs down, by Manjusha Radhakrishnan, Gulf News : ...Avoid this comedy with all your might. It’s a movie which will induce a migraine, even for those who don’t suffer from that condition.... full review

Thumbs down, by Jyoti Sharma Bawa, Hindustan Times : ...Pagalpanti appears to be a collection of improvised scenes rather than a film made from a real script. The performances are wooden, dialogues stilted and regressive, and the story – well, there isn’t one. This one is best avoided.... full review

Thumbs down, by Shalu Singh, India TV : ...Pagalpanti is just 2 hours and 15 minutes long film but felt like I was in the theatres since eternity. Level of boriyat crossed.... full review

Thumbs down, by Shalu Singh, India TV : ...Pagalpanti is just 2 hours and 15 minutes long film but felt like I was in the theatres since eternity. Level of boriyat crossed.... full review

Thumbs down, by R.M. VIJAYAKAR, India West : ...The music, as in all of T-Series films nowadays, sucks with its mélange of callous treatment of old hit songs and uninspiring new ones. The female singers of the new “Tum Par Hum Hai Atke” and “Tera Beemar Mera Dil” are horrifying indeed.... full review

Thumbs down, by Umesh Punwani, koimoi : ...All said and done, Pagalpanti tastes worse than gulping your vomit (not that someone had asked me to taste it, but neither did they ask me to watch). Apart from a couple of good jokes, there’s nothing to cherish about.... full review

Thumbs down, by Gautam Batra, koimoi : ...If anything is left then Music also scores poorly and doesn’t leave any impact.... full review

Thumbs down, by Sonil Dedhia, MiD DAY : ...by the end of this film, my brain was battered to pulp with the inconsistent and stale jokes. John Abraham's character is a panauti, which means he brings bad luck to every business he's involved in, including those he starts with Arshad Warsi and Pulkit Samrat's characters.... full review

Thumbs down, by Vinamra Mathur, MiD DAY : ...The problem with today's comedies is that they think they can get away with cast and canvas, and making poker faces on posters would led to the belief that they have made an entertaining film for families... full review

Thumbs down, by Kunal Guha, Mumbai Mirror : ...This Anil Kapoor, John Abraham, Pulkit Samrat-starrer needs to be flagged as injurious to the brain... full review

Thumbs down, by Saibal Chatterjee, NDTV : ...Pagalpanti does deliver something akin to the madhouse that it promises but its loony-bin approach to hilarity is too dated to be effective.... full review

Thumbs down, by Sukanya Varma, Rediff : ...Glue pumps are fired, cars explode to the clicks of tacky VFX, haunted homes pop up in the middle of nowhere, horses to race with, circus lions to flee from, Pagalpanti's script is stuff of pre-schooler dreams. The performances, too, are better suited for a school play.... full review

Thumbs down, by Nandini Ramnath, Scroll.in : ...Among those who retain their dignity are Anil Kapoor, John Abraham, Arshad Warsi and Brijendra Kala. The rest keep scrunching their faces and flapping about in an attempt to breathe life into an effort that is about as sincere as one of Nirav Modi’s schemes.... full review

Thumbs down, by Namrata JoshI, The Hindu : ...Every single actor seems to be overly conscious of the fact that she/he is in a comedy so they have to make people laugh somehow. The desperation shows on some and the other seasoned ones like Anil Kapoor and Saurabh Shukla look disinterested and mechanical. The only one who manages to hold interest to an extent is Inaamulhaq, but, like the film and everything else about it, even he and his character overstay the welcome.... full review

Thumbs down, by Shalini Langer, Times Now : ...Some good actors have lent their names to this mess, for what can’t be any reason other than money and the hits somehow against Bazmee’s name. So let’s not go around passing blame.... full review

Thumbs down, Times Now : ...Overall, Pagalpanti is more bland and loud than it's funny. While the star cast tries its best, the movie, as a whole, fails to keep it together.... full review

Thumbs down, by Ronak Kotecha, Times of India : ...Even with an enviable starcast and heavy-duty action, Pagalpanti never really manages to pull off more than a few laughs.... full review

Thumbs down, by Rummana, yahoo! India : ...I wouldn’t stop you from watching ‘Pagalpanti’, please go ahead and enjoy the film if this is the kind of comedy that you like. And if you are indeed going for this one, I would suggest you stay right until the end credits — believe me it’s fun watching the cast and crew enjoying themselves behind the scenes. I only wish i had one-tenth of the fun watching the film as they seem have making it.... full review

Thumbs down, by Rummana, yahoo! India : ...I wouldn’t stop you from watching ‘Pagalpanti’, please go ahead and enjoy the film if this is the kind of comedy that you like. And if you are indeed going for this one, I would suggest you stay right until the end credits — believe me it’s fun watching the cast and crew enjoying themselves behind the scenes. I only wish i had one-tenth of the fun watching the film as they seem have making it.... full review

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1 readers - 0 yays 0 so-so 1 nays

Nay! Thumbs Down, by Probz

This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.

Parental Guidance:

Oh, I forgot lions showing up in the middle of a fight scene.

Detailed Ratings (out of 5):

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