Benny and Babloo

Films like Benny and Babloo are a part of industry. They come without large promotion, no big stars, no item songs or skin shows to grab people's attention, but such films will be having a simple plot. Such movies are not that great, but the final result will be a smile on the audiences' faces. Yes, these movies never disappoint, because there is no much expectation linked to them. Benny and Babloo is a simple film, about two friends, Bennykkutty and Babloo. The movie starts when these two people get jobs in two places, one a five-star hotel and other a ladies bar. Initially, Benny is proud that he is working as a bellboy in a fivestar hotel, and he often teases Babloo for working as a waiter in a 'gira hua' ladies bar. But, gradually Benny comes to know the real faces of the people in the hotel, the activities going on there. The story has many other characters also. There are around 10 women in the Ladies Bar, there are people in Hotel, there is a struggling actor, a corrupt polititian etc etc. Most of the characters are well-developed, and therefore doesn't irritate us at any situation. There are some situations which moists our eyes, over all the movie makes us feel good, and also makes us think about what is happening in the society. The lead artists Kay Kay Menon and Rajpal Yadav perform equally well. Both are excellent in their roles. Among the other cast, everybody is good. The actress who played the eldest woman in the ladies bar deserves special mention. There is no much scope for music in the movie, and the cinematography is ordinary. On the whole, this is a simple film which can be watched. It is not a must watch, but it is worth a watch.

Yunus Sajawal makes an interesting directorial debut with the dramedy 'Benny and Babloo'. It starts off with the title characters working together at a teahouse which is suddenly shut down. Luckily, Benny (Kay Kay Menon) finds employment as a bellhop at the Mirage hotel while Babloo (Rajpal Yadav) finds work as a waiter in a local beerbar. Benny is immensely proud of his job while he pokes fun at Babloo for working at a sleazy place. Eventually, he realizes that Babloo has a more dignified job and more reason to be proud of than him.

The comedic sequences work wonderfully. The first quarter hour made me laugh as did the comic relief in between. However, most of the more intense scenes felt melodramatic. For example, the scenes depicting corruption at Mirage hotel felt forced and staged (the acting and dialogues were bad). It was like watching a scene from 'Page 3'. Many of the subplots felt rushed (like the Riya Sen track) and poorly developed.

The execution is passable. Most of the songs are well-set in the background and they're pleasant to the ears. The actors have good chemistry. Kay Kay Menon and Rajpal Yadav are a delight to watch. Not only are they convincing as best friends, but they bring a certain humbleness and naivety that makes these common men easy to relate to. Aashif Sheikh is brilliant as the hotel manager. Of the actresses, Richa Chadda steals the show as the streetsmart bargirl. Anita Hassandani is decent and Rukhsar is very good (except in the scenes where she's required to be emotional where she's slightly melodramatic). Riya Sen is passable at best.

It's interesting how Sajawal draws parallel between a five star hotel and a beer bar. He implies that even a beer bar can have more dignity than a 5 star hotel where corruption has become a way of living. If only he had tightened the writing and shown more development, this would have been a real treat to watch. Yet, 'Benny and Babloo' is far from being a bad film. I'd say it's at least worth a one-time watch. Menon and Yadav are great.

Achi fil hai kisi k sath bhi dekhi ja skti hai.

Directed by Yunus Sajawal is an Indian film Director/Story Writer/Screenplay Writer, who has worked predominantly in Bollywood. Yunus has worked in popular movies like Hungama 2, Sooryavanshi. Yunus's previous film to hit the theatres was Hungama 2 in the year 2021.

Using "Benny and Babloo" the movie attempts to depict the sham around us. Two worlds - a magnificent outside but murky inside and the other, other way around. A posh five star hotel versus a ladies dance bar encompassing various lives and people into it.

۝ Kay Kay:: Perhaps the worst performance from him till date. Fans of Kay Kay are urged to stay away. Completely miscast or probably (for the first time) didn't get it quite right.

۝ Rajpal Yadav:: A tailor-made role for him and practically he sleep- walks in the role of Babloo.

۝ Rukhsar:: Has a good screen-presence and some good lines.

۝ Riya Sen:: Her segment attempts to explain the law of karma. Her performance could have been better.

۝ Shweta Tiwari:: The queen of small screen. Not enough screen time for her character to leave an impression.

۝ Anita Hassanandani:: Appears fake.

۝ Aasif Sheikh:: Loud

۝ Hiten Paintal:: The role is glorified special appearance.

Having too many sub-plots works against the flow of the narrative and a couple of them either not fleshed out properly or don't reach a logical conclusion. The basic premise of glorifying ladies dance bar is slightly past-sell-by-date. Instead of giving a balanced view of both sides, the plot attempts to be judgemental which makes the proceedings drift away from reality.

Taut writing could have transformed it into likes of "Page 3"

Actors like Kay Kay Menon and Rajpal Yadav and the theme of juxtaposition of a dance bar and a large 5 star hotel might raise expectation from this movie. Here the story alternates between events which happen in the 5 star hotel where Kay Kay works as a bellboy and the dance bar where Rajpal Yadav is working as a waiter. Some of these events are intended to leave one introspecting about the society and hypocrisy within it at large. As said earlier, the theme and story had potential, specially with the ensemble of actors gotten together for the movie. Unfortunately the overall treatment is not very smoothly done. Rajpal Yadav and Shweta Tiwari (who actually looked quite good in the movie) did decent work, but Kay Kay and the rest of the cast did not really impress much. There are some good scenes in the movie, but they feel like being pinched from some of the earlier movies on similar themes (e.g. Page 3). The movie is a bit clichéd and a somewhat feel-good ending was kind of forced into the end. The direction and editing had room for improvement. Overall, the movie is OK for watching if you don't have anything else to do, or if you are new to alternative Indian cinema (because the cliché and repetitions won't rankle).