It indeed comes as a pleasant surprise when the one smaller film that you skip for watching later in a Friday (having more than 3 releases), actually turns out to be the best of the lot giving you a good time in the theater through some enjoyable performances. Thankfully BAANKEY KI CRAZY BARAAT made me feel that way last Friday as it did turn out to be a fairly entertaining watch in comparison to PHANTOM, KAUN KITNE PAANI MEIN and FARAAR (Punjabi) in particular.
But before describing the experience of watching BKCB further, I would like to admit that the film has been made on a pretty bizarre plot that has no meaning at all in realistic terms. There can be no possible justification of the basic premises of the script wherein due to some 'horoscope complications' the marriage rituals are performed by a person different from the actual bridegroom for a fixed payment (like a proxy marriage). And this hugely absurd theme only becomes the biggest drawback of the film having many decent acts. So then, what made me fairly enjoy BKCB in spite of this foolish theme?
It was the cheerfully positive show put up by three highly talented men who tried their best to lift up the film above its silly plot. And these three exceptional actors were Sanjay Mishra as the wedding planner uncle with his witty one liners, Pankaj Jha as the uninvited irritating guest and Vijay Raaz as the local don with solution to just every problem in the secretly planned proxy marriage. Besides, Rajpal Yadav as the real annoying groom, Rakesh Bedi as the over- eating father and Anil Mange as the silent lover also provide their valuable support in the film's second half during the wedding celebrations, whereas the lead pair doesn't get much to do despite being the center of attraction. Tia Bajpai looks pretty (particularly in the songs and few key sequences) and Satyajeet Dubey tries his level best to bring in the required humour. Plus in the supporting cast the girl playing Pooja and the rest perform their given roles in a decent manner.
At times few clichéd insertions really put you off (like the one where two girls get dressed as men), but then the enjoyable trio of Sanjay, Pankaj and Vijay repeatedly bring the film back on track presenting it as a clean enjoyable family comedy through their relatable characters. Directed by Aijaz Khan its production values, art direction and cinematography never give you the feeling of watching any low budget small film (just like Dumb LAGA KE HAISHA) and the soundtrack also offers a peppy marriage song that keeps the spirit alive along with a supportive background score (having some loud tones).
In all, due to the absence of any big star and a weird plot that could have been replaced with something more sensible, BAANKEY KI CRAZY BARAAT is sure not going to make any kind of dent at the box office in all possibilities. But if you get to watch it on home video or at a channel in the coming months, you are sure going to say that it wasn't a bad film at all and fairly enjoyable too.
