GHANCHAKKAR: be lazy lad for this monotonous 'jholumpatti'

When opened, wrapped in a bafflingly dark misty packaging of a crime thriller, Raj Kumar Gupta’s GHANCHAKKAR turns out to be an average colorful candy that often tastes weirdly funny […not hilarious, to be precised] at times but mostly it reminds you of an unbothered chewing gum settled in your teeth, best to enjoy if you can really force yourself into it.

After an impressive debut in AAMIR and sustaining the expectations with hard-hitting social-legal-truth seeking thriller NO ONE KILLED JESSICA, Raj Kumar Gupta decides to take you in a bizarre world of an odd couple with one having passion with fanatical fashion [the effortless Vidya Balan] and the other being a hopeless victim of partial memory loss [the noticeable performer Emraan Hashmi]. Their perfectly imperfect world is now invaded by two unwanted guests from past [Rajesh Sharma & Namit Das], looking forward to get their heist money recovered from the couple as soon as the lost memory strikes back.

With a totally intriguing story-line, GHANCHAKKAR really never runs out of giggles & chuckles here and there throughout the first half but undeniably the screenplay gets repetitive and overtly stretched when the narrative opts to rather bank on comical quotient for entertainment than taking you on an intelligent riddle ride to solve the mystery. As a result, till the time when finale showers you with unraveling twists in the tale…you don’t actually participate in the act to your fullest. Stories with limited characters and single track narrative needs certain kind of riveting writing and elements that keep your thinking bone tickle all the time but GHANCHAKKAR fails in deliver them in large.

If I could recount a few scenes that stand out completely, one is for sure where the partners in crime rob the bank with masks of the innocently charming Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan with his in-anger young look and the hilariously suspensful Utpal Dutt on their face to hide the identity; you will find a constant smile on your face throughout. Other is when faded up with Vidya’s cooking disasters, Emraan & partners decide not to dishearten the lady with their comments but couldn't hold themselves up from acting contrary.

Overall, in its 2 hour 19 minute long duration; this ‘continuous jholumpatti’ is monotonous & tedious. Don’t look for laugh-out-loud gags or a complete mind-bending twist for a thriller that it could sure be if someone had invested a little intelligence not as a cherry to top it all but a vital ingredient to the recipe. Watch it if you really have to…or else, just wait for the home video release or satellite premier on the LCD TV in your drawing room. Till then, just be a lazy lad [2.5/5]