Dhoondte Reh Jaoge's blunder-land

Johnny Lever playing a hardcore Paki-loving Muslim screenwriter in Bollywood sitting on a rooftop amidst a flurry of green flags narrating a script that's a sad mishmash of past blockbusters, could've been hilarious, if he wasn't part of a film that attempts to evoke mirth from the whims of the working class but ends up weak-kneed and washed-out with the effort.

The characters in this quirky quick-mix comedy try to give you the formula for a flop film. Finally the characters end up making a hit film.

If only the people behind Dhoondte Reh Jaoge were that lucky. It seems they set out to make a hit film by conceiving a plot about a totally zonked-out film unit which has set out to make a flop film. But the idea never quite gets beyond the wish list. The collection of characters who crowd the film's corny canvas seem to stand uncertainly at the threshold of a spectacular satire that never takes off. The cast seems to be in the mood for masti. And when you have the redoubtable Paresh Rawal helming the hilarity, what could go wrong? In theory, nothing. In practice everything goes wrong in the comic climate of this strange connivance about an out-of-luck producer (Paresh Rawal), and out-of-luck chartered accountant (Kunal Khemu) and a struggling actress (Soha Ali Khan).

Dhoondte Reh Jaoge and if this trio reminds us of Rishi Kapoor, Farhan Akhtar and Konkona Sen Sharma in Zoya Akhtar's recent Luck By Chance, then blame the Bollywood setting and�banish the thought. If Luck By Chance was an insider's look at the film industry, Dhoondte Reh Jaoge is the wacko's dekko into blunder-land.

No effort is made to understand the workings of the industry with satirical sensitivity. The laughter is the main criteria for entering the dream world of movie making. Sadly the laughs are few and far in-between. The Sholay and Lagaan spoofs give the humour an extremely wannabe appearance. Unintentionally bits and pieces of the satire merge into portions of Rangeela (wannabe actress falls in love with screen hero while her lover-boy from the chawls seethes in anger) which in turn merge into an Aziz Mirza kind of scooter-riding dreamers' part for Kunal Khemu.

At the end of the comedy the Rawal-Khemu's intended flop turns into a super-hit while the duo lands up in jail. No such luck with this rather droopy and sad comedy. It tries hard to be funny and original. It just ends up being neither here nor 'dare'.

Among the performers Paresh Rawal needs no recommendation. In fact he says as much in an end-title joke. Kunal Khemu reveals some hidden comic talent. Sonu Sood as a somewhat dimwitted matinee idol does a number of get-ups and avatars quite sincerely. Sorry, Sood isn't supported by anything much in the plot.

However, we have to�wait to watch what the audience have to say about the film.

Courtesy: Bollywoodhungama.com