Mere Dost Picture Abhi Baki Hai

Review: Lights! Camera!… Uh, huh, Reaction!? … If you’re ‘allergic’ to movies on movies, you’re bound to get one. If you can digest anythingBollywood … Picture this. So, here’s a film on making films. A picture-in-a-picture. (All those harbouring a secret 70mm dream; and all wannabe filmmakers may please note) – You may throw away those books on ‘All You Need To Know About Filmmaking’. Walk in right here, but wait, review abhi baaki hai. Hoo haa! ‘Action’!

Amar Joshi (Suniel Shetty) lives, breathes and sleeps cinema. His Bollywood dream takes him from Benaras to Britain for a course in filmmaking, and of course, he lands in the Mecca of movies – Mumbai. Hereon, the picture begins. With a script for a movie titled ‘Cheekh'(yup, we screamed when we heard that too) – based on a true story of a journalist who gets raped – he wanders from producer to producer, from Kamal Amrohi studios to Film City, to clinch a movie deal. Joining him on this filmi safar is his friend and wannabe actor, Suraj (Rajpal Yadav), who believes his talent has been ‘raped’ by the industry, and that he’s an extraordinary actor who’s been made an ‘extra’. So what if he can’t get a single dialogue right in the Pawan Putra Hanuman telly show (the only episode on his filmography), and at every chance he literally molests the angrezi language. Uff, so utterly ‘castrating’ (read: ‘frustrating’! Yeah, it all goes like that!) But hold on, it’s not ‘interval point’ yet.

Amar suffers endless encounters with directors – some wanting to sensationalize ‘Cheekh’ with kaata laga items et al (obviously sex sells); others wanting the damsel-in-distress to turn into a devi. Some wanting her to be Chandni and/or Damini, and some wanting to change the title to ‘Kiski Cheekh’ (‘K’ factor, gettit?) After all, the film is for the ‘multisexes’ (read: plexes) right? Finally, Amar meets Montiji (Rakesh Bedi), a filmi ‘fixer’ who gets him a foot in a door. Believe it or not, abhi aur bhi baaki hai (Scream!). What follows is an endless trail of repetitive events and countless characters – Dons, starlets, music-directors, writers, actresses plus moms, action-heroes plus side-kicks, and romance badshaahs plus songs. (Double Scream!!)

Suniel Shetty, casually walks through his part, his comic timing intact, but with a script that’s a series of forced episodes, even a macho man can’t save the day. Rajpal Yadav, is hilarious in parts (apart from adding splashes of colour with his wardrobe). Rakesh Bedi tries hard but ends up with a high-pitched, hammy performance. Om Puri is unfairly wasted; and the rest of the ‘extras’ seem like they’re auditioning for their first break.

Director Rajnish Raj Thakur, attempts a behind-the-scenes dekho of Bollywood – an expose, a tongue-in-cheek reality check of sorts (there are a few laughs, and funny references to real Bollywood people), but eventually rolls out a mash-up of an incomplete showreel.

Story: Aspiring director struggles for his first Bollywood break; and ends up in a satirical look at behind-the-scenes Bollywood, in twisted fashion.