Film: Bad Boy
Cast: Namashi Chakraborty, Amrin Qureshi, Saswata Chatterjee, Rajesh Sharma, Johny Lever, Rajpal Yadav, Darshan Jariwal
Director: Rajkumar Santoshi
Rating: 1.5 Moons
Rajkumar Santoshi was one of those directors who made films that stayed with you for years to come. His craft took years to manifest but one could always come back to his stellar gems like Ghayal, Ghatak, Andaz Apna Apna, Khakee etc. However, when he makes a film like Bad Boy you end up scratching your head that what forced him to do so as the film is neither funny nor has an iota of logical sense of emotion.
Bad Boy stars debutant Namashi Chakraborty, son of Mithun Chakraborty and debutante Amrin Qureshi in the lead roles. The film is reminiscent of the 90s era when frivolous comedies ruled with a working class man attracts the affection of a wealthy woman and faces her stern, disciplinarian and disapproving father, making him eventually accept their love. The story line did not have much practicality then, and has none in today’s times either. Nevertheless, Bad Boy follows the same trope, but here Raghu (Namashi) is seriously good-for-nothing boy who has failed his exams and has no scope of redeeming himself any further. He is the son of a scrap dealer (Rajesh Sharma) but is full of tricks to make his way in life.
Raghu falls in love with Rituparna’s (Amrin) photo in a paper and tricks his way into her college, impersonating a student from Barcelona. He impresses and eases into the heart of the lady by saving her from goons and taking her for paani puri treats (something that her strict father had forbidden her from having). Rituparna, like all sweet-heroines of Hindi films fall instantly in love with him but is afraid of her father’s ire as she obeys his every command. Saswata Chatterjee plays the strict and wealthy father who challenges Raghu to prove his worth by bearing the expenses of his household for a month. At the end of the month, if he succeeds then he can marry Rituparna else discard any such idea from his mind. There is no question of asking his adult daughter’s choice as obviously, why give the woman any choice or even brains to make an informed decision, going by the fact that she can be won over by paani puri and pub treats.
Johny Lever plays the black sheep Uncle Poltu in the film and tries extremely hard to crack some jokes but they are just not funny. His atrocious Bengali accent will definitely irk several Bengalis. It is a sad fact that he used to be a scene stealer in films once upon a time. Saswata Chatterjee and Rajesh Sharma are the saving grace of the film but are bogged down by an extremely lame script. Namashi and Amrin fail to light up the screen in their debut vehicle and should work harder in their next film.
The songs by Himesh Reshammiya are neither peppy nor memorable with either their beats or their picturization. Mithun Chakraborty makes a fleeting appearance to shake a leg with his son in the film. Rajkumar Santoshi has definitely disappointed with Bad Boy. Hopefully, he will bounce back with better stuff soon.
PeepingMoon.com gives Bad Boy, 1.5 Moons.
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