Ramji Londonwaley

I went to this movie with great reluctance. I was told by a good friend that it is the remake of a Tamil Film Nala Damayanthi, which was very good. I found it to be a decent masala film. The story is about a cook Ramji(Madhavan), who gets his sister married but cannot find the cash to pay for her dowry. His sister's father-in-law threatens him that if he doesn't pay the dowry quickly he will have no option, but to throw his sister out. He is given an offer to go to London to cook for a wealthy Indian Family, and he takes it in the hope of making some money for his sister's dowry. This story basically deals with he culture shock faced by poor Ramji in the alien land of England and the funny situations he gets himself into. He finds his Indian roots to be of great help in London and becomes a much loved character there. He also manages to find himself a love interest played by Samita Bangargi. She is the modern Gori Mem and she moves from hating Ramji to loving him deeply(Very Original!!!!). The comedy in the movie is good but it loses way in the middle. The movie tries to do too much and falls flat on its face. The scenes with the Immigration officials are a little silly. Overall a decent movie. A family entertainer. If you have 3 hours to kill, you can go for it.

I was surprised to find that the movie, with a pacey and slick script, is actually good! This is hollywoodisation of bollywood...more precisely, this is Mckeeisation of bollywood. Inspired (no pun intended) by their Hollywood counterparts, the Indian scriptwriters have also started taking cues from Robert Mckee - the screen writing guru. This story has a deep imprint of Mckee in a clear and structured manner- inciting incident, negation of negation, plot points, resolution etc etc.

On the face of it, this development would appear as a progressive step which indeed it is for a while BUT it also contains seeds of quick stagnation . The Hollywood movies have long lost their souls and now appear very predictable and plastic- thanks to an overdose of Mckee. The same may happen to the new wave Indian movies if they keep religiously following American structuralism without realising the flip side of it. Indian writers should see to it that in an attempt to break free from bollywood formula, they do not get trapped in the Hollywood (mckee) formula. Individual creativity and instincts is all one should follow while making a movie.

Did I mention, this movie is worth your multiplex expenses and three hours? Go watch it.

Ramji (played by Madhavan), an excellent cook from an Indian village, takes a job in London to pay his sister's dowry. When he reaches London, disaster strikes and he finds himself with no identification and no job. He finds help from new friends, and forges an unexpected relationship with a London girl, Samira (Samita Bangargi,) who is his opposite in every way.

This is a cute, feel-good movie somewhat based on Hollywood's 1990 movie Green Card. Madhavan is a good actor and his portrayal of the sweet, naive, and honorable Ramji is well done. Samita Bangargi is not as convincing, and their chemistry was unexceptional. The songs were just average, but incidental music was effective. Overall, while it's not particularly memorable, Ramji Londonwaley is entertaining, and at times moving, mainly due to Madhavan's strong performance.

R Madhavan is a charmer in this movie. Decent songs Feel Good Movie One can enjoy be with family.

Good movie, nice storyline, great cast and decent acting .. but production is the one that is probably pulling the movie rating down. Scenes seems to be patched together and does not look organic.