Lafangey Parindey

Read in Hindi - “Dard Aur Mard mein Duh or Muh ka fark hota hai. Duh aur Muh matlab Dum. Dum hai to Dard mein bhi Mard ban sakta hai”. What could have happened after a line like this in a movie?

a. The Audience gives a standing ovation with whistles and cat calls galore and in some instances even showers a few pennies onto the screen
b. The Audience does not even understand it and realizes it much later while reading a review like this one that there was this line said in the movie

The former is possible if and only if, it was done in the 70s by our very own Angry Young Man OR more recently in a movie that I am desperately waiting for starring Salman Khan in the lead doling out such dialogues. Expect the former to be magnified manifold. Lafangey Parindey unfortunately falls in the latter category. How did someone as versatile and talented as Pradeep Sarkar expect the grandson of one of the most famous singers in this country to pull this dialogue off is completely beyond me. What I mean to say is wasn’t there enough evidence in all movies after Johnny Gaddar that this gentleman is a little challenged in the acting department and definitely does not have the capability of pulling off Salman Khanish dialogues????

Anyways, lets get to the story now. Pinky Palkar (Deepika Padukone) works @ a skating rink @ R City Mall (proudly and prominently displayed - Make mental note to visit skating rink when possible). She is considered to be God’s gift to skating in India by her colleagues and partner. But her life in an unknown chawl in the by lanes of Mumbai has till now kept her protected from the possibility of getting her ticket out of the grime and the rut that she believes she was born into out of lack of choice. Nevertheless, she stumbles upon “India’s Got Talent” which has a cash prize of 50 lacs and that would become, no points for guessing, her ticket out of the chawl.

Now there is our hero, One Shot Nandu (NN Mukesh) who makes his living out of fighting blindfolded. Lives in the same chawl as Pinky but has not romantic inclinations whatsoever. Is our atypical chawl dude whose kicks in life come from the fact that his friends think the world of him. Women have no place in his life. Not interested. Nada. His hero in life is Anna (Kay Kay Menon) who is makes his living as a hired killer. Both pay obeisance to Usman Bhai (Piyush Mishra) the local don. Nandu wants to grown up to become Anna and in the enthusiasm accepts a job of being Anna’s driver on a job to knock off a rival gangster. Things go horribly wrong and Anna gets shot. As they are getting away, Nandu also runs over someone coz his attention was towards Anna who is half dead. Anna doesn’t make it and the someone turns out to be Pinky who slips into a coma and eventually loses her sight for good.

I did not expect much from Lafangey Parindey as such. I had mentioned that in my update on the first look as well. I must say, it kind of lived upto my expectations. The story is quite decent but as we are seeing quite often these days, the execution fails quite badly. Deepika continues to get full points for confidence in front of the camera but really does not execute the role of the blind Pinky to perfection. Neil Nitin Mukesh shows flashes of his Johnny Gaddar days but doesn’t capitalize on it. And as I had mentioned earlier, Pradeep Sarkar kind of lets you down. One would have expected much better from his side. Dialogues are quite insipid. Music not too great. Would anyone know if they used body doubles for the skating sequences? If not then that would be the only impressive aspect about the movie. Below average overall. 3 on 10 is the final verdict.