Freaky Ali

Direction is notably bad. Not a single scene has been shot in interesting way. I don't think that I will take chance to watch another film of this director. Trailer was promising but film comes as delusion. I appreciate the team behind the trailer. Story by director is simple. A good for nothing guy, having some extra merit to hit the cricket ball in air at any fixed place, established in just four balls. He meets with an idiotic extortion gang member after praying at 'Mazar' for work. Then he accidentally plays golf and surprises a coach by his unique ability to shot the ball. Then his journey begins of being a champion. Rich golf champion guy mocks him, then some match fixing angle, physical assault and final match with broken arm, victory with the help of 'Kawwali'. It is in the name of story. Screenplay is simplest and stretched. That 'Chaddi' selling scene could have been very crisp and interesting but it's too long with a stammering fat boy and his father angle too. Movie is full of such type of lengthy scenes. Dialogues by Raaj Shandilya are only good thing which at least make you smile at places but it also go overboard like screenplay most of the time. Makers thought that everyone is well versed with golf so they decide half an hour long climax based on golf match, which is very slow and irritating. Major drawback of any film based on game if you fail to hook audience in game and what is unfolding on screen. Performance wise only two are good. Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Ali is very good. Arvind Parab as kidnapped old person is too good. He holds his character graph in very good manner. Jackie Dada in guest appearance shines. Rest cast are just OK. Is there any female lead, sorry I could not notice.

The first half of this movie does have a couple of cheap laughs - no deep humor, but if you are in the mood for some humor, it wont hurt. You can leave just about an hour into the movie as the story line crumbles and it becomes your usual stereotyped Hindi movie.

If you thought you should have walked out of Vicky Donor in the interval, then you should definitely do the same here.

Recommended: For those who have nothing to do.

Not recommended: For those who have anything else to do - listen to music, read crappy movie blogs, chat with an ex on Facebook; just anything really!

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is likable and talented and his character is conquering your soul. It is a simple story about a poor habitual man, followed by bad luck, which, due to his skills, becomes a great golfer. Music is really cool. Amy Jackson is a very nice presence. A good Bollywood among so many very bad.

You can't expect much from Sohail Khan, or the whole Khan brigade, at least when it comes to directing or writing films. His latest feature is more like a skit played by a bunch of primary school students for their school's poorly-organized annual gathering.

Ali (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is an orphan who used to work as an undergarment seller and a contract hooligan before realizing that he can play golf like Tiger Woods. Along with his friend and associate Maqsood (Arbaaz Khan), he signs up for a National golf tournament and aims to dethrone Peter (Jas Arora), a vanity-filled top golfer, and make some good money out of it. The story is basically a riches-to- rags one where Ali has to fight odds to come out as an achiever.

One is honestly tired of this setup, which has been sampled millions of times in mostly all kinds of art in the world. But, then, you would think that the makers must have added some good old humor into this concoction so as to make it appealing. Sorry to break it out to you, but neither is there any quality comedy in the narrative nor is the existing any edible. One-line jokes that can be best described as PJs (in Mumbai parlance) are all there is in the story, which is otherwise as banal as its box office competitor's (Baar Baar Dekho).

Siddiqui tries to single-handedly salvage the film, but a ceiling with only one pillar supporting it cannot save itself from a storm. It is upsetting to watch Khan in a role that he himself won't be proud of. Seems Biswas is the only person playing a sensible character in the film, and let me not even start about Nikitin Dheer and foul-mouthed Jackie Shroff. I went to the restroom for few minutes and missed somehow Amy Jackson.

All in all, the show is about a lucky person who just happens to manage some flukes in few games of golf, which is as baffling and enigmatic as the possibility and nature of the romance between Ali and his girlfriend, Megha.

BOTTOM LINE: Sohail Khan's "Freaky Ali" is a film made of zero imagination and creativity. Wait for TV premiere, but do see what's on in Star Gold or &Pictures.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

The first thing that strikes you when Freaky Ali begins is what an odd- bod collective this enterprise appears to be: to have Nawazuddin Siddiqui play the lead is a masterstroke, but to have Seema Biswas play his mother? Like, really? This apparent randomness wouldn't have been such a deterrent if the plot had some meat to it because Nawaz is quite capable of carrying a film on his own. But within a few minutes, we know that it is a David-Goliath clash between a 'sadak-chaap' fellow and a suited-booted character. The novelty of it being played out on a golf course dissipates in a few rounds, and it becomes the usual 'tamasha' between goons and good 'uns, and haves and have-nots, its good-natured daftness drowning in silliness. There's a 'message' that's dinned in to us via Nawaz's 'ordinary' man. That no one, even a guy who hawks undergarments at a road-side stall, is worthy of contempt. That golf may be seen as a sport for the wealthy, but there's no stopping anyone from becoming a champion. All you need is skill. And will. The poor vs rich clash is set up for laughs, and we are amused to begin with, but then the amusement dries up.The one person who keeps us watching is Nawaz, who busily shakes a leg and romances a pretty girl (Amy The one person who keeps us watching is Nawaz, who busily shakes a leg and romances a pretty girl (Amy Jackson), when he is not sinking a hole- in-one much to the consternation of his wealthy rival (Jas Arora). His connect with the audience is instant, and he keeps it going with wry one-liners which he delivers with consummate ease. It's also nice to see him in a light-hearted role : except perhaps for his blundering TV reporter in Bajrangi Bhaijaan, who is a hoot, he has been condemned to dark, twisted turns in dark, twisted flicks. In addition, to see him command the screen in a solo turn is a delight : he is our first true subaltern 'hero' who has moved from the fringes to claim the centre.