Phas Gaye Re Obama

The setting is 2008, when the entire world is reeling under the financial tsunami of the Wall street collapse. And the tremors of those events are being felt as far as rural India, where a group of bumbling "khandaani" kidnappers are ruing the "recession" that has made their plight pitiful – victims are offering ridiculously low ransom payments, no one is paying protection money and things are so bad that they cant afford even outgoing calls on mobiles.

Amidst this gloominess, the semi-literate member of the group Anee announces the arrival of NRI Mr Shastri to their town and the kidnappers immediately see a pot of gold with him. Unfortunately for them, other "senior" kidnappers in the area are also seeing stacks of dollars in front of them. In the midst of all this, imagine if Mr NRI is himself bankrupt and is in India only to sell off his ancestral property.

Phas Gaye Re Obama's story flows well, and a few sequences are especially memorable. Especially the organised kidnapping business, with its bank-like ransom handling facilities and a "kidnapping receipt" - which is to be shown in case of any other kidnapping attempt and is valid for 12 months :) !! There is no sag anywhere in its runtime and the laughs are generated by its quirky characters and their rustic nature (it carries the tradition from the previous gangster capers Sankat City and 99 - both of which I adore).

The "khandaani" kidnapper, Bhaisaab, played by Sanjay Mishra, is a delight to watch. And giving him company is Oye Lucky Lucky Oye's Manu Rishi – the America-worshipping, small-towner Anee – who gets his dreamer yet gullible act pitch perfect. Rajat Kapoor plays the hassled NRI effortlessly – he seems made for these kind of roles only. Neha Dhupia was the only misfit – her character too unrealistic and her performance nothing to write home about. Amol Gupte carries from where he left off in Kaminey, a natural gang leader.

The movie holds your attention well for its entire runtime and the ending is not quite what you expected – so full marks to the director for that as well. There are no songs etc to distract. A solid effort by debutante director Subhash Kapoor, but left an aftertaste very similar to Sankat City etc. If it was not preceded by the above mentioned movies, I would have rated it a little higher. And others, who haven't watched those movies will definitely have a lot of fun watching Phas Gaye Re Obama

After a long long time, I was overjoyed after watching some movie. Wonderfully written script and at the top of that marvelous execution on the screen. A commendable screen play it was in the movie. With the theme of recession and its side effects on different classes of society, movie progresses. First few scenes give you a gut feeling that its not a routine come and go movie and after some 20 minutes, movie changes its gear. After interval you find yourself so engrossed in the movie that you starts guessing What's next... and end of the movie gifts you a great satisfaction and admiration on your lips for this master piece by Subhash Kapoor.

There is nobody in the cast, who did not do justice with their role. Rajat Kapoor played his trademark NRI role mercurially. It was an effortless, flawless, natural act from Rajat. Sanjay Mishra alias Bhai Sahab is also brilliant as always. Sarcasm in his super seriously delivered jokes forces you to an inevitable smile. Oye Lucky Lucky Oye famed Bangali, Manu Rishi has also displayed perfect timing with his role. His strong desire to go to US, his English classes and watching US based news with his glittering eyes and supportive dialogs in various frames ensured that his character is strongly written like every other character of the movie. Amol Gupte as NetaJi and Neha Dhupia as Munni gangster are also very promising.

The best part of the movie is, you never loose your smile. At the same time, you guess about the next action from either Rajat Kapoor or Manu Rishi or some Gangster. The light, humorous and a little sarcastic way of presenting some of the very sensitive truths of our society is really commendable. I am overwhelmed by watching this movie and hope, it would be liked and appreciated more than those clungy, crampy, non-sense movies, which are over flowing in the bollywood these days.

PHAS GAYE RE OBAMA(2010) comedy Cast-Rajat Kapoor,sanjay mishra,Manu Rishi chadha,Neha Dhupia. A NRI man gets bankrupt on the period of recession and comes to India to sell his house to pay his loans back.The film starts when he is kidnapped assuming him to be a millionaire. Jolly LLB series director Subhash kapoor has written a classic script involving the recession period.It is very difficult to make a comedy film in India which manages to keep both script and humour simultaneously convincing and only a few films are able to do and this film is among those few flicks. Rajat Kapoor is excellent as the intelligent NRI businessman.Sanjay Mishra is brilliant in his role.Manu Rishi Chadha steals the show with his effortless role of a man living with the dream of living in USA.The rest of cast has also done a good job.The English coaching class scene is iconic and one of the best comic scenes in Bollywood, the film not just make us laugh but it also depicts the reality of our society. The power of the film is the story, an equally competent screenplay. There is difference between pure comedy films like Dhamaal,De Dana dan,Golmaal franchise and Witty ones like PK,Peepli Live.The movie proudly sits on the latter category. The film is unpredictable and will keep u guessing till the end.

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This deliciously smart comedy from writer-director Subhash Kapoor stars Rajat Kapoor as Om Shastri, a desperate NRI from America, who must sell off his ancestral village property so he can save his home in New Jersey from being repossessed by the bank. Within days of arriving in the village, however, he is kidnapped by local crime-pin Bhaisaab (played by the excellent Sanjay Mishra), who dreams of a fat ransom in exchange for the NRI's release. When Shastri reveals that he's lost everything in the recent financial meltdown, Bhaisaab's dreams are crushed. That is until Shastri himself, along with Bhaisaab's trusted right-hand man Anni (played by Oye Lucky Lucky Oye's Manu Rishi), comes up with a shrewd new plan that will make both the kidnapper and the victim richer by several lakhs.

Constructed from a terrific script that's strong on plot and packed with crackling dialogue, 'Phas Gaye Re Obama' is consistently engaging. Shastri plots his own 'sale' from one wisened gangster to the next unsuspecting crook, in what becomes a chain of hilarious cons. Along the way we're introduced to a string of quirky, original characters that add colour to this palette.

Neha Dhupia stars as Munni, a dreaded don who despises men, and who's dubbed herself the female Gabbar Singh. She surrounds herself by an army of tough-looking henchwomen with names like Kareena, Deepika, Madhuri, Rani and Preity, and spends her free time chipping away at male statues. Amole Gupte plays a permanently constipated minister who runs a professionally managed kidnapping-and-extortion company, where you're provided with a receipt on payment of the ransom, and a one-year guarantee against a repeat abduction.

But the star of the film is Manu Rishi, who brings just the perfect degree of naïvete to his role of a gangster's moderately-educated sidekick yearning for a better life. His character, Anni has his heart set on moving to America, and insists he's got what it takes – he's watched reruns of Obama's famous 'Yes we can!' speech repeatedly, he's taking English lessons at a local coaching class, and he hasn't missed a single one of Sylvester Stallone's greatest action hits.

'Phas Gaye Re Obama' is unpredictable and surprisingly relevant, even if the film's title (which seems to squarely blame the US President for the recent global recession) is a bit of a stretch. Cleverly written and sharply cast, it's a film that delivers hearty laughs. Don't miss it. It's one of those rare Hindi films that's funny and smart at the same time!

Another gem of 2010.

A comedy movie with a script (which is very rare now-a-days).

Plot Summary: NRI OM Shastri is broke after recession hits USA, going to loose his home very soon if he doesn't come up with enough money to save it. He visits India to sell of his old "haveli" but finds all his relatives now stay there. He is now in a dilemma how he could make the deal, in between local goons com to know that an NRI has returned to India and kidnaps him. The movie starts here.

Directing: The movie is directed in a very smart way, no unnecessary scenes, no songs (oh, that's a breather) and a nice crisp and fresh presentation.

Editing: The editor did a superb job here. I can not point out a single scene which is stretched unnecessarily or slows down the pace of the movie. For a movie like this pace is very important which keeps the audience engaged and keeps them guessing whats gonna be next.

Acting: I liked acting of Mannu Rishi in "Oye Lucky..." and he shines again here. Rajat Kapoor, I would say, had not had much acting scope. He did what the script wanted him to do...i.e.go with the flow. But, I would admit Neha Dhupia's effort, she is becoming an unavoidable choice for such small budget movies. And her acting skills are mentionable now. AND, SANJAY MISHRA as BHAISAAB is nothing but superb...each scene he is on screen is a LOL moment. Kudos to him. Amol Gupte also did a good job too. So, it seems I've praised all who acted in the movie...hmmm...

Cinematography: Not much scope to show u scenic beauty of the place but the camera shows u what u need to see. No unnecessary closeup, no try to invent a new camera angle...the camera work goes with movie tone...telling a simple story in a simple way and keeping the focus on story.

Verdict: A very good black comedy. Expect an intelligent story with a predictable ending (only if u r movie buff and I mean it when I say "movie buff"). Don't expect a laugh-out-loud movie like Khichdi (none can surpass it, ever) but, ya if u want to include brain and still want to make people laugh, u can only go this far as did "Phas gaye re obama". A must watch for sure.