Movie Review | Phata Poster Nikhla Hero

Phata Poster Nikhla Hero looks like
director Raj Kumar Santoshi's vehicle to
ensure Shahid Kapoor is able to woo the
masses a la Salman Khan and Akshay
Kumar. The young actor attempts to be a
bit dabangg and a bit rowdy like Rathore. To his credit his two bits
are largely successful especially in the first half,
which is hilarious and fun up to the
interval point.

The film details the story of Vishwas Rao
(Shahid Kapoor), a wannabe actor from a
small town who is mistaken to be a brave
and fearless cop in urban Mumbai. One
case of mistaken identity leads to
confusion (read some slapstick comedy) and several twists and turns
right till the
prolonged climax. The film which makes
you laugh generously with its wise-cracks
up to the interval point slackens in the
second half and then picks up at the
tempo at places and then dips again and then you laugh again.

Somehow the film slipping into
emotional-sentimental and tear-jerking
territory once Shahid's mother (Padmini
Kolhapure) comes to know of his bluff is
not as effortless as its zany, insane, fun
parts where all is well in Vishwas Rao's world.

Director Santoshi parodies his own films
such as Ghayal and Andaz Apna Apna and
some others, having you crack up at the
tried and tested formulas of Bollywood
movies. The dialogue written by him is
funny, smart and laced with chutzpah and has you in splits with lines
like jis tarah
family ka doctor is family doctor, I am the
gang doctor.

Shahid, as always, is fabulous in the
dance numbers. He brings a rumbustious
energy into the songs especially the
number Tu mere agal bagal. His comic
timing is terrific. If, as he has said, only
copied director Santoshi in the film who enacted the scenes for him, then he's
done a pretty good job of it. The last time
Shahid seemed so likeable was when he
did Jab We Met.

Padmini Kolhapure does justice to her
role of her mother wanting to see her son
become an honest cop. Saurabh Shukla as
one of the dons is effective. Nargis Fakhri
as an item girl is completely forgettable.
Ileana D'cruz playing a social worker looks pretty in a few songs. She doesn't
have much to do.

Salman Khan, in his cameo steals the
show when he shows up on the screen for
less than a minute, poking fun at himself,
his movies and Aamir Khan, his friend
and colleague from Andaz Apna Apna
which was directed by Santoshi himself.

Santoshi as writer, director and the
dialogue writer is in good form. He would
have been terrific if could have captured
your interest in the same way as he did in
the first half of the film. Still, the film is
worth more than a few laughs. More because of the way the director spoofs
Bollywood's tried and tested conventions
and the jokes he cracks at the expense of
an industry he is only too familiar with.