‘4 Idiots’ goes the Bollywood way

4 Idiots Poster
Rating: na
Banner: Madhu Entertainment Media Pvt. Ltd.
Producer(s): Mayuresh Films and Entertainment, Guru Anand, Anant Walilkar
Story: Milind Arun Kavade.
Director: Milind Arun Kavade.
Dialogues: Prakash Bhagwat
Music: Mayuresh Pai
Camera: Raja Phadtare
Cast: Bharat Jadhav, Siddharth Jadhav, Guru Anand, Swapnil Joshi
Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke

We have seen Bollywood inspired by Tollywood or Mollywood and vice versa. But, we have seen some of our Marathi films only inspired by Bollywood. When they saw success of 3 Idiots, they thought of making 4 Idiots. Why can’t our Marathi films have their own originality? And there is already a film titled ‘4 Idiots’ in the making, in Mollywood. However, this Marathi film ‘4 idiots’, has nothing to do with the script of 3 Idiots, but has some relevance to the style of Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra, with a touch of David Dhavan. . It is a tale of 4 friends – Bunty( Bharat Jadhav) , Qayuum( Siddharth Jadhav) , Kashi( Newcomer Swapnil Joshi) and Nagya( Guru Anand- the producer of this film) from Mumbai, who help each other in the time of crisis.

Qayuum is not steady with his job and Bunty is a pickpocket. Kashi is an Air conditioner Mechanic and a follower of a Bhondu Baba; while Nagya is a driver, who is dreaming of going to USA. When Qayuum’s mother is seriously ill and is to be operated upon , the other three friends raise money out of their savings and by selling their belongings. Bunty also manages a sizable amount, which he claims to have stolen from a non occupied house. When all of them fail in their attempt to raise enough money for their new lifestyle, Bunty comes up with a plan of bank robbery. Initially, the other three friends are reluctant; but, when they find that it is the best way of earning quick money, without killing anyone, they join Bunty’s plan.
Bharat Jadhav Siddharth JadhavIn the pre interval session, the film simply drags on to explain the background of each one of them and in showing the strong bonding of their friendship. But, in the post interval session, the film actually takes momentum, when we find a group of terrorists also entering the bank premises, almost coinciding with the visit of these four idiots. About 70 people are trapped inside the bank as hostages, including the bank’s staff, visiting customers and the 4 idiots.

The terrorists are looking for one Salma and her locker keys. They start searching for the lady and her locker keys. The terrorists then enter a deal with Bunty, to identify Salma.. Surprisingly, the ‘Azad kashmir’ terrorists speak in Marathi and claim to have learned Marathi for the past three years of their presence in Maharashtra. They are led by their leader, who demands the release of their chief from the jail, in return of hostages. With few twists and turns in the climax, we find the 4 idiots taking on the Four terrorists and coming out victorious. Each one of them learn a lesson and after three years, we find them engaged in their work of interest.

‘4 Idiots’ is purely an action comedy with nothing new in the script, except for the plot in the concluding session, dealing with the terrorists. The screenplay is good only in the concluding part. However, the dialogues by Prakash Bhagwat are hard hitting, when they are uttered at Politicians and the terrorists. The happenings in Politics, the pressure on Police by the Home Minister, the helpless attitude of home minister, the arrogance and selfishness of opposition Minister, whose daughter is trapped inside the bank, have been well presented. Music by Mayuresh Pai is just fine. The item number performed by Aarti Siolanki looks very odd. But, the background music by Salil Amrute is impressive. Raja Phadtare’s cinematography is good.

As a director, Milind Arun Kawade shows his strengths in post interval session, when he has tried to hold the audience to their seats. In the pre interval stage, there are unnecessary cheap jokes used as source of entertainment. Bharat and Siddharthg Jadhav play their respective roles almost on the style of Ashok Saraf and Laxmikant Berde. Producer Guru Anand has tried to fulfill his wish as a supporting actor with better scope, in the role of Nagya and has done well. In the role of Kashi, newcomer Swapnil Joshi is just fine in the company of 4 idiots in this film.Siddharth Jadhav Bharat Jadhav

The females in this film have no scope at all. Vishakha Subhedar appears as kashis’s sister for a scene or two, while Siya Patil and Mrunalini Jambhale have been used as show pieces in the group trapped inside the bank. One doesn’t know, why did they accept such roles? Vaibhav Mangale is impressive in his role. He stands a chance to get offers from Bollywood, after this performance. There is a big crowd of supporting cast to create an impact of the sensational event occurring post interval, covered on television as breaking news! The effort of the film maker is good; but, the film does leave few drawbacks.