O Teri

The publicity posters of the movie said, "From the makers of BODYGUARD" and that was enough to shatter any expectations from this projected comedy loosely based on the recent real life incidents in Delhi. Still I was willing to see something interesting made as a comic satire on the burning issues of corruption and political scams. But beginning with 2 horrible songs in the first 15 minutes itself along with few cheap double meaning dialogues and loud acting, my only hope got vanished quickly and then I was only having some quick naps in between this terrible forced comedy, good for nothing.

Yet to give you a fair idea, O TERI is simply a deliberate & poorly written attempt which vaguely aims at being an enjoyable comedy as well as a thoughtful satire on the present system and its fresh scams. But the real truth is that a completely different, well read and visionary mind is required to make a satirical-comedy on the lines of cult classic JAANE BHI DO YAARON directed by Kundan Shah, which is simply missing in this confused, directionless and below average project from Umesh Bist.

Taking its major inspiration from Shah's all time gem, O TERI is also about two good friends looking for a scandalous story for their TV program. Plus there is 'a dead body comedy' and 'a falling bridge' too straight away reminding you of JBDY. To give it a more up-to-date feel, the writers use the above mentioned plots in context of the latest 'Games Scams' in Delhi involving many known leaders and further try to give a social message too in a completely uninteresting climax making no impact whatsoever on the viewer.

In short, despite having all the required ingredients of making a good entertaining comedy (also having a song on FB & Twitter), O TERI fails miserably due to a bad script, over the top acting and all avoidable social messages in which no viewer is interested at all. Its humour remains dull, the dialogues are overdramatic and most of the sequences are not able to generate any kind of excitement among the audience.

So guessing the same, I lost all my interest in the movie from the beginning itself and actually felt sorry for Pulkit Samrat, whose career was really progressing well till this silly mistake. Moreover just like DISHKIYOON, here too I didn't stop to see Salman Khan dancing in a special number played along the end credits.

Director work is below average. Story is boring and stale. Screenplay is poor, all scenes are scattered. Dialogues are good at places, especially satire ones. There are few scenes, which could have been hilarious, but due to bad execution, unbalanced performance and no connection with story, it fall flat. The scene of drunken police men is one of such scene. Somewhere movie looks like exaggerated and somewhere very slow and boring. Climax is good example of it. Unnecessary much glass breaking and chasing is just too much. Main plot of dead body is so boring and childish. Everything just happens because they just wanted to impose it without any logic. Bridge collapse, sudden popping of songs, buffalo, all are just stuffed. Performance wise Vijay Raj is too good. He makes you laugh even with his limited scope and repetitive dialogues. Both lead actors are very bad in comic timing and voice modulation. They look like body builders rather than actors. Anupam Kher and Mandira Bedi are OK. Music is also not entertaining.

O TERI is a political comedy directed by Umesh Bist, starring Pulkit Samrat, Bilal Amrohi and Sarah Jane Dias.

The film revolves around two news reporters who try to get their hands on a huge scam to become famous, but instead find themselves involved in one.

O Teri, as a comedy film, just fails completely, and here's why. Firstly, the film contains quite a good plot, showing it does have a great deal of potential, however, it's just completely wasted by the end of it. Since its produced by Salman Khan, I assume they realized doing a serious film like that doesn't work at all, so they decided to make a comical remake of it to appeal to all audiences. But here's where it gets worst. The several situations presented to the audience is so ridiculous that you don't know whether its comedy or just torture. Case and point, in one scene, the two main characters; PP and AIDS (no joke) go to a center where a dog is apparently an astrologer who can read out both of their fates. The film is said to be heavily based on the 1983 film, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, however considering that film was a cult classic, I doubt whether O Teri has done any justice to it. I will admit though that there are some scenes that are 'so dumb its funny' that you do chuckle a bit (of course after admitting to yourself that you're in for the long run in this film).

The acting is really bad, in all honesty. Pulkit Samrat, after acting extremely well in Fukrey and showing us how much his talent he has, just sinks to doing a really bad role like this. Bilal Amrohi, ditto, but its not better than Pulkit Samrat (in terms of bad acting). Sarah Jane Dias just kept screaming the whole time for no reason that I could literally hear her voice echoing around the cinema whenever she spoke. All the politicians in the film make no sense whatsoever. This includes Anupam Kher (I have no idea what he's doing in this film) and Vijay Raaz, who is the only person that made me laugh thoroughly whenever he was on screen and one of the most enjoyable things in this film. Just like in Delhi Belly, he keeps spewing out swears which can be extremely hilarious, and throughout the film, he breaks three phones in anger, and at one point, even mentions it in a dialogue.

The songs are the best thing in this film, and is the only thing I carried with me after I left the film. There are great songs like "Butt Patlo", "Akhan Vich" and "Ummbakkum". And the film would have been more enjoyable if they just spread the songs evenly, but instead, the director places all the great songs in the first half and with a five minute gap to allow us to focus on the plot (or in other words, torture us with his dull, mindless flick). And not to state that some of the songs are quite unnecessary in film. Case and point, it is not normal for two guys to lose their job and to break into song and dance, and neither is it plausible for a politician to start singing with the public about following on Facebook and Twitter in the middle of a speech.

In conclusion, O Teri is telling us from the title itself what we're going to be saying by the end of the film (in disgust, of course). You might even tell me I'm going too hard on this film, and that its not THAT bad, and to that I say it isn't, because at the end, it tries to change your opinion by adding this ultra patriotic speech and sticking to the plot so that when you leave the cinema, you think its a feel-good timepass, but overall, the film really isn't. It's just below average. O Teri is just a basic reminder than whenever Bollywood tries to get better, there will be big duds like this to bring it down. The film would've been much better if the plot was portrayed in a much better way, if the acting was better and, most importantly, if it made more sense. You may enjoy laughing at the mindlessness of the film if you watch it with friends, but other than that, stay away from O Teri.

O TERI- 3/10

'O Teri' is a watchable political-comedy, that delivers some laughs in the goings-on. It doesn't offer the funniest script or the best of one liners, but what it certainly is, a decent one-time watch.

'O Teri' Synopsis: Prantabh & Anand, associated with a news channel in Delhi, are in search of a big scam to prove a point to their senior. One fine day, A dead body accidentally lands up in their car & their lives change for good.

'O Teri' is short & undemanding. It cleverly culminates within 105-minutes, it doesn't drag or takes itself too seriously. The Screenplay needed some more wit, but it sails off smoothly, at most parts. Umesh Bist's Direction is passable. Cinematography is good. Editing is ably done.

Performance-Wise: Pulkit Samrat & Bilal Amrohi enact the unlikely heroes, admirably. Bilal, especially, does well in the comedic portions. Sarah-Jane Dias has two standard expressions from start to end. Mandira Bedi does justice to her part. Anupam Kher & Vijay Raaz are enjoyable, as always. Murli Sharma leaves a mark.

On the whole, 'O Teri' A Fair Entertainer!