FilmyReviews

Desi Boyz has an entertaining first half and decent performances as its plusses, but a tedious and least compelling second hour stands out like a sore thumb. Leaves a lot to be desired!

This is supposedly meant to be a happy film, since we’re talking about exploited men after all. It'd become Chandni Bar if there was a woman dancing or sleeping around for an orphaned nephew! There’s a swingin’ dance track in there, Subah Hone Na De, possibly the zingiest Bollywood discotheque number I’ve heard since Char Baj Gaye, the copy of Black Eyed Peas’ My Hump, which apparently made the aptly titled film Faltu a commercial success earlier this year. This is how such movies work. So you never know.

Debutant director Rohit Dhawan tells his story in a light vein and never compromises on the fun quotient. He seemed to have learnt his craft from his father, David Dhawan, well, but never plays it over the top like him. Moreover, he keeps the drama dizzily moving on and peppers it with a feisty screenplay, with some funny one-liners thrown in here and there.

Desi Boyz, a film that paints so ridiculously rosy a picture of the gigolo life that it plays like a recruitment film sponsored by pimps. Chitrangada Singh [ Images ], on the other hand, is a sheer trainwreck, so bad it hurts to watch her. (Thankfully she only enters the film in the second half.) Before she and the second half enter, the film motors along almost tolerably. There are sloppy musical cues and an inconsistent use of narrative gimmicks.

Rohit Dhawan's storytelling is simple and swift and the comedy never takes the no-brainer route with adequate conviction in the writing. He smoothly establishes the comic chemistry between Akshay and John and never lets anyone overshadow the other, thanks to their reasonably written roles. Renuka Kunzru's dialogues, ranging from the witty to the wacky variety, are a major highlight and pack the requisite comic punches with some much-needed freshness over the customary synchronized lines in most recent comedies.

Given all this, you approach Desi Boyz with a sense of trepidation. However, things aren’t as bad as they seem. The Dhawan boy impresses with his hold over the craft, with slickness and style, and Kumar and Abraham play off each others' personalities well to make a lovable jodi. At the onset, you are impressed with Dhawan’s making -- the film looks fresh, and more in the Karan Johar Dostana mould than a regular haphazardly put together comedy. The basic plot - two out-of-job guys becoming male escorts -- has potential, and the casting seems apt. If your expectations are low, you may not be disappointed with Desi Boyz. To be fair, it’s Akshay Kumar’s best film in quite a few years.