Pappu Can't Dance Saala - Critic's Reviews
Director : Saurabh Shukla
Starring : # Vinay Pathak, Neha Dhupia, Rajat Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah
Pappu Can't Dance Saala slips in its post-interval portions. The promise that it showed initially dries up in this hour. The goings-on, to put it bluntly, aren't bland, but get into the been-there-seen-that pattern.Pappu Can't Dance Saala is, at best, a regular fare. It could've been far more appealing and engaging had it not fallen prey to mediocrity in its second hour.
It's a refreshing film which keeps you involved with its sensitive portrayal of two lonely souls trying to find succour in an alien city. Interestingly, the film takes a balanced view and doesn't end up passing judgements on the polarised cultures of big and small towns. Both have their positive and negative points, states director Saurabh Shukla. And rightly so. Both Vinay and Neha pitch in interesting performances while Naseer excels in a small cameo.
One wonders why the film needlessly treads into Zoya Akhtar's Luck By Chance zone. What was the central plot after all? The murky side of movie world? Despair in city of dreams? What point did the film attempt to make after wandering off into so many offshoots, when we were always under the impression that it was a minimal tale of mismatched romance? But it's difficult to accept this partially engaging film, unconditionally! On that note this pappu doesn't pass muster. Alas pappu fail ho gaya!
Apart from some well-choreographed dance practice session by Longines Fernandes and Neha Dhupia there isn’t much working for Pappu Can’t Dance Saala. Pull out that original ‘Pappu Can’t Dance Saala’ song from Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na and dance your heart out. Saurabh Shukla’s Pappu… can only make you sob. Skip, skip, skip.
This movie is fundamentally flawed. There is a plot, but the premise is weak. Also, the so-called sub-plots don't really add up to the whole picture, making it an exercise in futility. To top it, the actual love story that takes place between Neha Dhupia and Vinay Pathak throws logic out of the window. I, for one, will not believe that a girl, who has come from Kolhapur with stars in her eyes, will settle for a portly nerd. That too when she has just been launched in a music video, which has opened doors to stardom for her.