‘Ghanchakkar’ review: A wacky comedy of errors!

The genre, style and presentation of ‘Ghanchakkar’ are indeed the first of its kinds.

Gayatri Sankar

Do you have a frail memory? Are you forgetful and is that what irks you the most about yourself? Perhaps the makers of ‘Ghanchakkar’, through their film, intended to give you a fictional visual representation of what could perhaps happen if you ended up losing your memory! Alas, not in a way you would perhaps like to realize the same! ‘Ghanchakkar’ comes from Rajkumar Gupta, who had earlier delivered films like ‘Aamir’ and ‘No One Killed Jessica’. Perhaps, the kind of genres that he has dealt with earlier stand completely in contrast to what this Emraan Hashmi-Vidya Balan starrer aims to unfold. The genre, style and presentation are indeed the first of its kinds but at the same time, is something that the audiences will find very difficult to digest. It’s all about Sanjay Athray (Emraan Hashmi) and his ability to break open bank lockers and help thugs. His wife Neetu (Vidya Balan) has a bizarre sense of fashion and almost has a fetish for fashion magazines. She is loud- both literally and otherwise. She is extremely ambitious and pursues her husband to go the illegal way to earn those extra bucks! She is also quite vocal about her greed for money and hence admits to not having any intentions of producing babies with him – as she doesn’t want to introduce Sanju (Sanjay), their father – as a thief! Sanjay is almost fed-up of his wife’s awful cooking and his mother’s phone calls at nights enquiring if he has had dinner or not. But it is not just about these two women that he gets squeezed in between – he has a bigger trouble in store – Pandit and Idris (his accomplice in a bank robbery mission). Sanju, Pandit (played by Rajesh Sharma) and Idris (played by Namit Das) succeed in stealing Rs 35 crores from a bank and decide to distribute their shares three months hence, oblivious to what will unfold thereafter. Vidya Balan and Emraan Hashmi, both powerhouse performers, excel in their respective roles, to say the least. They are supported by some fine performances delivered by Rajesh Sharma (seen earlier with Balan in ‘The Dirty Picture’) and Namit Das. But unfortunately, their impeccable performances can do the least to up the fate of the film at the Box Office. Director Gupta has been successfully able to present Emraan Hashmi in a way none could ever have even thought of. This could help the ‘serial-kisser’ further his career across all genres of cinema. But Gupta goes tepid while trying to give the correct kind of treatment to a grave plot, thereby making us wonder- ‘why?’! The climax as a separate chunk is absolutely out-of-the-box. It could have helped had the film gained velocity mid-way through. But when you collectively put it all, it spoils the show, thereby rattling your level of endurance and understanding. The film does have its share of highs but as a whole, fails to impress. ‘Ghanchakkar’, a film that has such heavyweights as the cast, could have been a lot better.