Badmaa$h Company

After taking a long deliberate gap from his acting assignments, Parmeet Sethi returns sporting the cap of a director, story-screenplay and dialogue writer. With his debut movie based on con acts practiced by a team of four, the actor turned director positively shows some sparks which may turn out to be more brighter in his future projects. But in his first attempt he only reaches a marginally acceptable level as the movie is unexpectedly slow and drags greatly post intermission.

Actually a project belonging to this particular genre of a thrilling con-movie, needs to be very fast, intelligent and exciting with some last moment gripping sequences in its every con-act, bringing the viewer to the edge of his seat. Unfortunately "Badmaash Company" hangs in between a good and average product because even when it has some well made plans unfolding on the screen, the narration fails to excite you enough to sit straight and take notice.

The various schemes thought of and executed by the group of four, move too smoothly without any surprises or minor hic-ups. Moreover in the first half, there is only one plan on which Shahid and his team goes on working differently which becomes monotonous and makes the viewer restless. In fact all those getup changes and interesting moments shown in the promos are entirely used in only one trick, tried with different vendors and customers in the first half. Post their first plan, all other cheating tricks, involving the repeated selling of a house and disposing the rejected lot of shirts towards the end are quite unbelievable in realistic terms. Besides this, I strongly felt the fun element missing in the narration, which is a must in such a project based on con-men.

Further, the second half dips drastically when the love & betrayal angle takes over in the script. As per the demand of the subject, this section should have been avoided or dealt in some other interesting way, not hampering the pace of the movie. For instance, the conflict between the group could have arise with a plan going wrong and they all escaping in different directions, blaming each other for the failure. But somehow our directors are habitual or forced to include the usual Indian emotional elements into the storyline irrespective of the fact that it's a con, heist or a murder mystery movie. Frankly speaking, I couldn't understand what was the need of the girl getting pregnant and still participating in the last plan carrying a large belly? Another worth mentioning point about this pregnancy sequence in the movie is that when Anushka discloses this to Shahid for the first time, then they both just start talking about The Baby Boy..!, taking his fresh breaths in the belly. Not even once they both discuss about the baby being A Girl. And that I think, clearly shows the Indian ancestral fantasy of a male child which is now being widely accepted, due to the boy-girl ratio going through some scary changes in the country.

Coming back to the movie itself, it's too easy to be a thrilling con-flick. With only few good performances you can't expect to play the trick with the viewers. Though Shahid is simply brilliant playing both the white and grey shades of his character, but he once again gets a not so good script to work upon. Anushka, looking for a serious image transformation, reveals a lot along with her fine acting, but she still doesn't look too sexy or inviting in those short outfits. Still the image shift will work for her for sure. Vir is fine but not great since he fails to make a mark with his funny one liners and comic scenes (except for one small in-flight sequence). But Meiyang, more famous for his Indian Idol act surprisingly delivers a polished debut performance and impresses. He is sure going to get some more assignments soon with his exceptional on screen presence. Among the veterans, Anupam Kher and Kiran Juneja get to play the same old parental drama seen many times before, whereas Pawan Malhotra is enjoyable with his Punjabi accent.

The other major drawback of "Badmaash Company" is its soundtrack with Preetam giving one of the most uninspiring scores of his career. The OST strongly points towards two things prevalent in the Industry.., One that the music directors tend to go partial with their selected projects and two, the director should himself have a good ear to extract some melodious compositions from his music director. The songs are a big letdown, especially if compared to an otherwise appealing cinematography capturing the foreign locations, casinos and lavish cars in a splendid style.

The debutant director Parmeet Sethi surely shows his capabilities of making it big in the near future. But in his debut project, he stumbles taking a mid-way path trying to cater all sections of the viewers in general. The movie could have been a different experience all together, if only it had a crispier script, concentrating mainly on its base theme of a con-team and had a few more enjoyable con-acts for the viewers. In all, it's once again a just OK movie coming from the big production house and Shahid Kapoor together. But I was really expecting a lot more from Parmeet.

Not a fan of Bollywood movies I often have to be dragged to the viewing of a 3 hour song and dance fest which is usually a poor copy of a Hollywood flick. As a result, I expected very little from Badmash Company and what seemed like another predictable copy. Instead, Parmeet Sethi present an answer to Sodebergh's Ocean's 11. Sethi enlists the talents of a young and exciting cast that, uncharacteristically deliver in their performances. Sure, there is always room for improvement but as far as performances go, one must applaud their efforts especially that of Vir Das. Anupm Kher, in an almost cameo performance, gives the audience what they expect, a role that he makes his own and smacks out of the park.

Teen pin-up Shahid Kapur, in spite of his school boy features, comes through and gives a credible performance which is refreshing in an industry that is plagued with over acting. The uncharacteristically original plot starts to wear on and become clichéd three quarters in but manages to pull it back with an interesting twist at the end.

The attention to detail is impressive as a majority of facets are kept true to the time line in which the story takes place, such as video cassettes and not DVD's and the vintage stock exchange. Although this isn't consistent throughout the entire movie, it is a step in the right direction and once again, refreshing!

All in all, Badmash Company is a original plot, atypically directed and puts forth a cast that portray their characters convincing. Thanks to Sethi and the Cast, there is still hope for Bollywood!

We went and watched the movie Badmash Company this weekend. It was an entertaining watch and by Hindi movie standards was an intelligently written and directed movie. I actually went with no expectations expecting the worst and came out pleasantly surprised at the quality of plot, storyline and directing while the acting was OK. I would give it 7 on 10 and considering the vacuum of good Bollywood movies out these days, would recommend it for a theater watch. The movie is about a bunch of recent graduates who want to make a lot of money and instead of slogging it out in the corporate world, want to start their own business and make it big. That is an awesome idea, only problem being their obsession with get rich quick schemes that while working a lot of times, get them into trouble too.

Film opens with voice-over by its hero Karan (Shahid) detailing its period. 1994, India, Bombay. He jokes that time it was Bombay and not Mumbai where he explains word FM meant Finance minister and not FM radio, cell phones existed only in science fiction, Mumbai-Delhi calls used to cost 90 Rs and not 90 paise over STD. This is the setting where we see India wasn't this free market and custom-duty was a bitch. I remember Anurag Kashyap blogging that story always needs its milieu. This one has got it.

Boy is from typical working class with father whose life he doesn't want live of 25 years sitting behind same desk. Fresh graduate topper believes gains of his efforts should be entirely his own and not of his boss or firm. Soon he devices a scam and gathers his crew to help the con. He is smart for sure. An idea to get away with custom duty. They buy foreign stuff cheap at Bangkok. There is a twist in the shipment which you better catch on screen. Then make phony scene refuse to claim the shipment leaving it in custom warehouses only to buy it back at customs auctions without custom duty now, so at scrap prices. Profits are huge.

Con is successful and crew is happy. Love-interest perky, bold, wannabe model Bulbul Singh (Anushka) with slang (f off) who while kissing hungrily inside car warns Karan, panting, this is not serious to which guy replies that should be my line yaar. Their romance connects well. Other two are rather two dimensional ones can be summarized – one is womanizer (Veer Das) other one is drunk (Chyang). Foursome makes good company till first half of the film. Really good.

But all is not always ends well. It's kind of perennial screw up, filmmakers continue to botch the second half of a promising film. Turning a fun-con into boring predictable morality lesson. Shifting story to US where new cons, more success, then success getting to head, egos, fights, alcohol, aiyaashi, inevitable break up. Protagonist learning lessons hard way. Papa don't preach or do it well.

When they stop having good time, how can we? Audience slowly realized film is sagging. "How much more is left?", someone asked sitting behind me. She was right though. But still for its better half it's not all bad company.

Some may come to the conclusion, from the trailer alone, that this looks like 21 with the characters having spend time in Las Vegas probably scheming against the casinos in their get rick quick ploys, but the truth is much further than that. Credit has to go to actor turned first-time writer-director Parmeet Sethi who adopts the same glitzy look and feel of the Hollywood production, but steering clear into his own story, allowing the characters to rest and relax instead at Sin City, and hatching plans that even Danny Ocean will be proud of.

The film opens in the mid 90s Bombay, and spends considerable time in the opening credits scenes with shots of the streets, setting the stage for Shahid Kapur's Karan, a bright young man whose plan is to make a lot of money, being quite averse to the life of an average salaryman like his father (Anupam Kher). Together with his friends Chandu (Vir Das) the womanizer and Zing (Chang Meiyang, from the 3rd season of Indian Idol) the drinker, they meet up with the attractive lass Bulbul Singh (Anushka Sharma) during one of their early forays into the smuggling business, and soon strike up a fast friendship, with Karan and Bulbul hitting it off extremely fast as a romantic couple.

Taking the advice of big plans churning out big money, they form Friends & Company as their front for their get rich quick schemes, exploiting business and loopholes in the law, as well as society's innate corruption in order to get ahead on India's position on the cusp of a consumerism explosion. Karan hatches plan after plan for Kiran's Quartet to execute, which allows for plenty of montage opportunities where the players don different disguises and personae in order to cheat their way through their pathway to riches. And like yuppies, they spend as hard and play as hard, since at that age the sky's the limit, and the feeling of invulnerability is seductive.

It's akin to Ocean's 11 with the mantra of greed being good, and the film examines how the excesses of money can influence and change relationships, and corrupt the inner soul of a man into thinking he's a god, especially when his ego gets super inflated, thinking that they are all nowhere without his ideas. Shahid Kapur shines in this transformation from rags to riches, and puts on quite the charismatic charm in order to pull off his schemes. In his Chance Pe Dance he plays a man looking for his big break, and here his Karan scores both the girl and the cash before ego gets in the way and begins that systematic destruction of what's dear to him.

But being a Bollywood film, there's plenty of room in its 144 minutes to set things up and down, and made right again. The supporting cast also made this film a delight to sit through, with Anushka Sharma in only her second film outing after the highly successful Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, and what more for a Bollywood film to have featured her first on-screen kiss with Shahid as well, which of course is a big thing besides having to don her obligatory bikini to frolic in pristine beaches. Being quite the clothes horse here, her role is a departure from the more demure one in her film debut, being a lot more joyful and playful, and hardly sulking.

Credit too must go to the co-stars who make up the quartet, with Vir Das's Chandu given plenty of chances to get into disguises as he plays an integral field agent in their plan to pull the wool over their unsuspecting victims. But the one who will invariably get the attention is Chang Meiyang as Tanzing, or Zing. My only wish is that I can converse in Hindi as well as him, undoubtedly being the butt of most race related jibes (in good nature I must add), but holding his own just as well.

Shot in India, Thailand and the USA, Badmaash Company's strengths lie in the chemistry amongst the main leads, as well as the little moments of nostalgia and cheeky references put in to good effect. It's not the perfect film, but it has plenty on offer especially when learning how to make it good while doing all the bad things, which at times does call for a certain stretch of the imagination to work, sprinkled with doses of humour in between the more exciting scenes of witnessing Karan's bold plans unfurl. Recommended!