Munna Michael

You got Tiger shroff and the awesome Nawazuddin, still could not make a strong hard movie? Crazy it is.

#MunnaMichael is another film which sets out to prove that Tiger is very good in dance n fight sequences. He does full justice to his role but is let down by a weak n obsolete script and haphazard direction. Nawazuddin, as always, is dependable n looks like he enjoys dancing. There is a love triangle too, but thankfully, this issue is sorted out amicably. Very good to see Ronit Roy in a positive role, he should be seen more often on the big screen. The heroine is supposed to be a dance expert, but her moves do not substantiate this. The music is average. Rating 2/5.

Next Gen Films and Eros International's Munna Micheal (U/A) directed by Sabbir Khan, is story about Munna, a dancer who is inspired by Micheal Jackson.

Micheal (Ronit Roy) is a dancer who is inspired by Micheal Jackson. He finds a child on the streets and decides to take him home. He names that child Munna. Years later Munna (Tiger Shroff) grows up and becomes a dancer who is also inspired by Micheal Jackson. One day Munna gets into a fight with a gang. He beats up all of them. After which Munna is being brought to Mahinder Fauji (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) as he fought with his men. Mahinder learns that Munna is a good dancer and and decides to hire him as a dance teacher. After a few days, Mahinder learns dancing and reveals to Munna that he learned dancing so that he could impress his crush i.e. Deepika Sharma a.k.a Dolly (Nidhhi Agerwal), a dancer in a club. After a few meetings, Munna is attracted to Dolly but never confronts about it. The rest forms the crux of the story.

The script of this film is penned by Vimmi Datta and it's so boring and stereotype that one can easily predict the whole story of this film after watching the first act. There are some dialogues that are mass appealing but a script can't stand film only with cheesy dialogues and punchlines. There are so many scenes in this film that irritate the audience instead of entertaining them. Thus, the script is the major demerit of this film.

Tiger Shroff's performance could've been better. Apart from acting, his stunts and mind-blowing dance will amuse the audience till the end of the film. The role of Dolly is played by Nidhhi Agerwal and she fails to shine well in her debut. Because of the dull screenplay she gets unnoticed in the film. Nawazuddin Siddiqui is okay as Mahinder. This may be the only film where doesn't play his role well. His performance is comprehensively ineffective, but a few jokes make it up to passing marks. The rest of the cast barely fit the bill.

Sabbir Khan's direction is completely average. His narrative style is slow and annoying. Cinematography by Hari K. Vedantam is beautiful, I wonder how he must have shot those scenes wherein Shroff dances and performs stunts. Editing by Manan Sagar is nice. "Main Hoon" and "Ding Dang" are hit musical numbers.

On the whole, Munna Micheal is a losing fare. It's a film which will only appeal to Tiger Shroff fans and a thin section of the mass audience who love watching action-dance films. In terms of box office, it may prove to be an average fare as films like Lipstick Under My Burkha and Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk will gather the class audience and also a huge chunk of masses.

At the moment it's 3.4. I think it's slightly overrated. Should be 3 or below actually. And all 3 stars would be because of Tiger Sheroff's dancing and action stunts. Otherwise, there is zero for direction; zero for script writing, and zero for everything else. Even Nawazuddin, a great actor, failed to deliver satisfactory performance in the movie as he was completely miscast for the role.

If anything Sabbir Khan has given Bollywood then it's disgrace, with the help of a couple turkeys like Kambakkht Ishq (2009) and Baaghi (2016). Maintaining the low quality of his entire filmography comes, he comes up with this dance comedy that takes inspiration from one of the greats to make a film that is eligible for at least one of EIC's Ghanta Awards.

Munna (Tiger Shroff) is a young man who aspires to be a successful dancer. An orphan, he was brought up by Michael (Ronit Roy), a dancer himself who used to work in films, Munna wants to participate in dance competitions and climb his way up. However, Michael does not concur with his son's aspirations and instead wants him to get a government job which is more secure and reputable. Munna disregards this and ends up being challenged by nobodies, eventually locking horns with Mahendra (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a fiendish gangster, whose kid brother he beat up the previous night. As they face off, one thing leads to another, and Mahendra requests Munna to teach him proper dancing in 30 days so that he can impress Dolly (Nidhhi Agerwal), a petite young dancer who works at a local pub...

As anyone can guess, Munna also falls for Dolly, but is prevented at courtship by his deal with Mahendra which has now grown into explosive camaraderie. It is evident that the writers wanted to make a comedy film, but also wanted to spice it up with gimmicks of dance and some old school hero-villain elements. All things considered, there is not an iota of logic in the proceedings. What gangster requests his potential victim to teach him dance moves? Okay, humor apart, how did it even pass muster in the writer's room? Having this as the main plot element, the film then shifts into romance between Munna and Dolly as both of them dance their bottoms off, eluding poor Mahendra.

There is some reality show in the background (which is judged by Shaan, Farah Khan, and Chitrangada Singh if you're interested), a gang of three that happens to be Munna's chum group but now seem to be helping Dolly qualify in that reality show, Munna not disclosing his "superb" dance skills to Dolly just because, and Dolly chasing her dream to prove to her father. There is all sorts of gimmickry in the film - something director Khan is known for - that makes it all look like a flashy TV show without substance.

Shroff is an average actor, but seeing him break a leg and then some bones is not entertainment. His character Munna claims to be an aspirant dancer yet he has more panache as a fighter. His co-star and debutante Agerwal cannot act, but she is at least pretty and that's what matters in Bollywood (other than nepotism; y'all reading the news, right?). Siddiqui performs well, but I'd rather see him typecast than fooling around like this. Supporting cast do a decent job.

Overall, Sabbir Khan's preparation is typical Bollywood that is unbearable to watch. Of course, there is some comic relief and nice dancing by Shroff, but other than, it's just another doltish film that, if tested by the times, is sure to turn into a shambles. For Pete's sake, it has a veteran actor like Ronit Roy dancing to "Goriya Chura Na Mera Jiya" in the opening sequence itself. Enough to make you coil in unintended laughter. It does not even respect the title, to be honest. A few Jackson moves here and there is not enough, guys!

BOTTOM LINE: Sabbir Khan's "Munna Michael" is too flashy and made entirely without logic. Its lead actors also fail to deliver what they promised, leaving everything to Ronit Roy and Nawazuddin, both of whom cannot dance. Rent a DVD if you are a fan. Watch "Lipstick Under My Burkha" instead.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES