Movie Review: Ekkees Toppon Ki Salaami

Director: Ravindra Gautam

Cast: Divyendu Sharma, Anupam Kher, Manu Rishi, Neha Dhupia, Aditi Sharma and Rajesh Sharma

Indian filmmakers love to commit hara-kiri. They love to murder a good concept. Perhaps there is a dark sadistic pleasure in taking a great idea and screwing it up. How else would you explain a film like Ekkeees Toppon Ki Salaami? It’s a phenomenal satire concept turned into a grossly inconsistent film. It has some great themes but the execution is pathetic. It’s as if the movie is jostling between mediocrity and brilliance. The viewer though is left with a frustrating experience.

So here’s roughly what the screenplay seems like. Great scene, lame romantic song, good scene, lame parody number, melodrama and end of first half. Second half – comedy of errors, no songs and a decent climax. Everything is so random it doesn’t allow you to invest any emotion or belief in the story. The comedy, even when it’s physical, is great though. That’s what keeps the film alive. Also good is the plot point of 21 toppon ki salaami. It’s basically Anupam Kher’s character’s last wish. It’s his life-long yearning of respect. Ironically it’s left to his two sons who hate his guts for being too honest and not ambitious. The way it plays makes for an engrossing idea.

But what seems like a relishing opportunity for satire and dark comedy is relegated to run-of-the-mill commercial fare. Songs are thrust in as if to validate the movie’s commercial status. The number Ghoor ghoor ke features homage to memorable numbers like Hawa hawai (Mr India), Mehbooba (Sholay), Humko aaj kal hai (Sailaab) and more, but it just doesn’t fit in. Product placements are accommodated for. Dramatic moments are overplayed. Writer Rahil Qaazi and director Ravindra Gautam never get a firm grip on their subject. They try hard, but it never quite comes together.

Same goes for the cast. Divyendu Sharma and Manu Rishi play the truant sons. Anupam Kher plays the honest man and then quite the convincing corpse. Neha Dhupia plays a seductress and Rajesh Sharma the stereotypical corrupt politician. Each character seems a little too sketchy. Their reactions and emotions are very real. But not their personalities. They’re borderline clichéd. And that hampers every actor’s performance despite their earnest efforts.  The only character that has force is Aditi Sharma’s Taanya. And that allows her to give a good performance.

Ekkees Toppon Ki Salaami isn’t the worst film ever made. It’s got its moments. But when it comes to cinematic quality it has no leg to stand on. It’s just too erratic to merit any credibility.