Phata Poster Nikhla Hero

With no offence meant to anyone or any fans or the person in question itself, the only time Shahid Kapoor can be and actor (excluding Kaminey) or at least pretend to be one is when he is playing and actor in a movie. Or should I say playing a wannabe actor whose mother, Savitri (Padmini Kolhapure) actually wants him to be a police officer - and an honest one at that. Now if that doesn't get you laughing then nothing else in Phata Poster Nikla Hero will get you to laugh.

Rajkumar Santoshi takes off from where he left in Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani. But for just a fleeting moment - a moment nevertheless - he gets us to believe that this one has been thought through better than APKGK. Alas, that was nothing but a false alarm because Santoshi continues to give a brand of comedy that is obviously inspired from the great comics of over half a century back. Unfortunately, the execution continues to bore you to death and not entertain.

If and when you are caught laughing it is more at yourself for finding nothing better to do for a 2 hour period. Even the serious moment like the interaction between Dr. Vinod Khanna tells Vishwas Rao (Shahid Kapoor). Goes as under

Dr. Khanna     :           Tumhari maa ki tabiyat bahut kaharaab hai. Turant operation karna padega. 10 lakh rupaye lagenge.

Vishwas Rao   :           10 lakh (perplexed expression on face and a pregnant pause later). Doctor sahab aap operation ki tayyari keejiye. Mein paison ka intezaam kar lunga.

And all you can do is LOL!!!

Vishwas Rao is the son of Savitri, an auto driver (points for progressive thinking). He wants to be an actor and botches up all entrance tests to be a cop that his mom wants him to be. He finally gets to Mumbai for another entrance test but obviously spends time with photo sessions and acting interviews. he gets mistaken for a cop after a photo shoot by complaint Kajal (Ileana D'Cruz). A few fights later, it is too late to go back on his charade of being a cop. He now has gangsters and cops after his backside.

Quite often during PPNH I could have been found playing dominoes on my Blackberry instead of watching the screen. Of course the incentive of watching Ileana was compelling to look away from my BB screen as and when required. But the makers ensured that even those moments were limited. I mean look at who they found for an item number - Nargis Fakhri??? She can barely dance even as a lead. Item number that says, "mein chidaya firangi tu desi mosambi" was really pushing her luck too far.

The dialogues are mind numbing at times.

1. Salman Khan toh bahaana thha. Aapko short cut maarke yahaan aana thha.
2. Chhilka fenkna toh bahaana thha. Aapko toh chor ko sulana thha

And the kicker in the shitter that makes u rush to a wall to bang your head in shame

3. Woh chahti thhi ki tu aisa police wala bane Jiski log misaal denge. Jo khaki vardi vaale pe logon ka vishwas jagaayega. Isliye naam Vishwas rakh diya

At least APKGK had good music. But PPNH falls short even there. So u are left with the sincere and of course flawless performances from the likes of Saurabh Shukla, Sanjay Mishra and Darshan Jariwala. Unfortunately their roles are very slapstick. On the whole, PPNH lived up to my expectations of a 2 on 10. And for that, I will push my ranking to 3 on 10 - also for showing a female auto driver. At least it didn't ruin my weekend completely. Watch only if u liked APKGK - I'm told there are many in those species.

Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCrNoy5OeOI