|  Paisa
Vasool Movie Review
Inspired by Mel Smith's HIGH HEELS AND LOW LIFES [2001;
Minnie Driver, Mary McCormack], Manisha Koirala's PAISA
VASOOL, directed by Srinivas Bhashyam, is a dreary fare,
which will have you forget scenes even before they've
concluded.
It does make you giggle at times and
does boast of a few well-put-together sequences, but
does that qualify for an exhilarating comedy?
Not at all!
Baby [Sushmita Sen] migrates from Delhi
to Mumbai for her sheer desire of becoming a big-time
actress. But height plays a major deterrent, confining
her acting career only to item numbers and music videos.
Maria [Manisha Koirala] flees from her
cruel cop-husband in a small town and earns her bread
by running a bakery in Bandra. She also inherits an
ancestral bungalow, but the real estate mafia and the
area goons make her life a living hell.
The two women meet by chance outside
a pub and start sharing their lives and also a room
in the bungalow. They are desperately dreaming of making
money and plan a shortcut to a better life.
In a strange twist of events, the two
women stumble upon a robbery. They impulsively decide
to blackmail the crook into sharing the loot with them.
But this scheme goes for a toss.
What could've been a genuinely hatke
fare is ruined by inept writing by Srinivas Bhashyam
and Anurag Kashyap. Perhaps, Bhashyam and Kashyap have
no clue that in a fare like this, there had to be plenty
of exciting moments. Let's put it this way: The recipe
[idea] is right, but the outcome [script] is half-baked.
If the screenplay is sloppy, the direction
is equally slapdash. The story not only moves at a sluggish
pace and is laced with insipid situations, but there
are moments that make you wonder whether the director
and writer had fallen asleep while making the film.
Given a subject like the one in this
film, the writers could've easily made an ideal comedy
that would cater to the multiplex audiences, besides
opening doors for other film-makers to attempt films
on similar themes.
A few one-liners and a few sequences
do bring a smile. Like the scene when an extortionist
threatens Manisha, Sushmita and Sushant with an empty
gun. Or the reference to 'short' heroes while a song
is being picturised on Sushmita in a studio. But a line
here and a scene there cannot salvage a weak fare.
Director Srinivas Bhashyam is saddled
with an uninspiring screenplay and he needs to partner
the blame partly. He may be a sound technician, but
a director ought to be a good story teller.
Bapi-Tutul's music is as unexciting
as the script. Dialogues are witty at times. Cinematography
is the sole redeeming aspect of this enterprise.
The dame duo occasionally injects life
with their performances. Manisha Koirala makes a sincere
attempt and so does Sushmita Sen. But it is Sush who
seems more comfortable attempting comedy. She displays
a flair for light entertainers and can work wonders
if offered such roles.
Makrand Deshpande is getting typecast.
Sushant Sinh does his part well. Rakhi Sawant is fair.
On the whole, PAISA VASOOL disappoints
big time. At the box-office, its sorry fate is inevitable.
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