Only entertainment!
Roshni Mukherjee
Director: D Sankaraaiya
Filmein sirf teen cheezon ki wajah se chalti hain... Entertainment, entertainment, entertainment... So claimed “The Dirty Picture”. Going by that picture then, Khokababu too sums up about D Sankaraaiya’s directorial debut: “No gyan, no bigyan, only entertainment.”
And so, Khoka Roy, (Dev) BA fail, ensures that he keeps his audience entertained. If not through the entire span then at least for most part of it. The “markatari” Khokababu is one “chalu cheez” and ably matches his “brain power” against Shankar’s (Ferdous) muscle power. From sweeping the possessive brother’s beautiful sister, Puja (Subhashree), off her feet, to marrying her in private, from keeping the union a secret to winning over suitor, Ajay (Dibyendu) to his side, Khoka is a master at his game. Need we also mention that the hero finally gets the girl, beats up the baddies and also extracts jamai ador from the brother?
The story hardly breathes of originality though. It takes one back to the times of rivalry between two families, of blood, gore and revenge. If the first half is more about Khoka’s display of wit and romanticism, the latter is sprinkled with action and dance sequences, where songs keep popping up a bit too frequently for your comfort.
But what makes this ride one hell of an entertainer is apna Khokababu’s action, emotion and execution. Dev, the actor, or the “non-actor” as he claims to be, has performed to the best of his ability. But it would be nice to see him test different waters now that he has already made a mark as a commercial hero. And yes, Ferdous is a welcome change. He brings to the fore the different shades of Shankar. Subhashree’s wafer thin figure looks ravishing and rocking alongside Dev’s machismo. Ashish, Locket, Partha Sarathi as Peto and Subhashish as Dhananjoy Khara provide able support to the plot and the characters.
Rishi Chanda scores with the title track as much as he does with the “Khoka 420” number. Then there are, “Je deshe chena jana manush kono nai”, “Soniye tu”, “Pyar ka jhatka”, to name a few. The picturesque foreign locales and high-flying action (quite literally so) keep the audience engaged.
Our advise, keep that logic behind, dig into a tub of corn and let Khokababu do the rest.
