Not a fun trip, this one

Nonika Singh 

Diljit Dosanjh gets his swag right. Karan Johar gets his pout right and Ritesh Deshmukh says his dialogues bang on. Yet, very little about the film hits the intended target or the funny bone. An extended advert/spoof for IIFA or pun intended lexicon of Bollywood… this is a mishmash that falters at many levels. 

A la Happy New Year, it’s about two nincompoops, one Bollywood obsessed actor (Diljit Dosanjh), the other a fledgling fashion designer (Sonakshi Sinha), who find themselves at the centre of an awards drama. 

That the seemingly limited talent duo will emerge winners is perhaps a foregone conclusion. What isn’t is the mayhem that unfurls in-between. To begin with, expectedly in a Wizcraft Production (the event management compmany behind IIFA), there is a motley of stars. From Sallu Bhai to Katrina Kaif to Rana Daggubati to Sushant Singh Rajput … you name it and they are there, supposedly to add sparkle, some as part of the narrative and others in full attendance at the actual IIFA, we presume. 

In case you missed the razzle dazzle of IIFA, New York, catch the glimpse of your favourite stars again. But beyond their beaming faces little else beams. 

Karan, the exuberant host of IIFA 2017, gets to play more than an anchor here. In a double role, one playing himself and the other his nemesis Arjun (remember Karan Arjun), he gets enough screen time to take potshots at all and sundry, including himself. But even the Smart Alec comments he gets to make 

tongue-in-cheek, right from the kind of films he makes to his sexuality, do not bring the house down. 

To be fair, some dialogues are genuinely amusing and Deshmukh is pat on. One of the best comes from our very own Diljit bhaaji. When Sonakshi quizzes him; don’t you know singing and dancing, his straight face reply, “that our entire Punjab knows” does bring a smile. While Sonakshi as the Gujarati 

gal barely passes muster, Diljit is earnest and does add some pep into the film. But nothing, can stop you from being sedated into a mindless stupor. 

As for the fuss over a song sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, well no song has you grooving. A pity for a film that stars singing sensation Diljit! 

Greater pity what could have been a breezy entertainer passes by creating not even a slight swirl. 

Worst joke is on the audiences. For some inexplicable reason, the film is in 3D. Pray, why? Perhaps that’s the pun we get straight and square. Like IIFA’s jacked up tickets, guess you got to pay more for seeing so many stars at one go. Our advice; better watch the rerun of award shows on television. By 

even the lowest denominator, they, yes IIFA included, are far more entertaining. By the way the film could well have been titled Welcome to IIFA.

nonikasingh@tribunemail.com