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By Taran
Adarsh, January 18, 2008 - 13:32 IST
 Nagesh
Kukunoor is back to the genre he began his career with
-- a light entertainer. In his new outing, BOMBAY TO
BANGKOK, he goes a step further and incorporates every
ingredient available on the shelf that constitutes
atypical Hindi film. This one's not 'same-same, but
different' from Kukunoor's earlier films!
But all's not well in Kukunoor's BOMBAY TO BANGKOK.
The plot, though interesting, isn't fine-tuned into a
gripping screenplay. What holds promise at the start
turns out to be a below-ordinary exercise midway
through the film.
Of course, Kukunoor's expert execution of the material
makes a difference and a few sequences are elevated to
the watchable level, but the impact the film ought to
make in totality is missing.
In short, BOMBAY TO BANGKOK lacks the solid punch of a
solid storyteller!
Shankar [Shreyas Talpade], a petty thief, in desperate
need of money, steals from the local don [Naseeruddin
Shah] and escapes his way into a team of doctors
heading for relief work to Bangkok. Unfortunately, he
loses the all-important money bag in the chaos.
In Bangkok, his world turns upside down at a massage
parlour where he bumps into Jasmine [Lena]. The hitch
is, she is all Thai and he can't converse with her at
all. A ray of hope comes his way the next day when
Jasmine turns up desperately in need of a doctor!
 Shankar,
posing as a doctor along with the Sardar buddy
Rachinder, jumps into this whirlpool, while Jasmine
soon gets pulled into his bumbling adventures while
running away from the don and his son [Vijay Maurya].
Kukunoor's films have well etched characters and the
ones in BOMBAY TO BANGKOK are no exception. There's a
seedha-saadha cook turned thief - perfect; there's a
Thai woman who works as a volunteer in the day and at
the massage parlour in the night - perfect again;
there's the don's son who wants the money back, but is
more focussed on being a Rapper - great. But great
characters don't really make a great film!
The problem? A few individualistic scenes [Shreyas'
first encounter in a massage parlour, his prescribing
Viagra to all patients and the sequence with Lena's
uncle, a hardcore Bollywood buff] do raise a chuckle,
but when viewed in totality, the zing is missing. It's
a screenplay of convenience. And that's why you feel
sad since Kukunoor gets it right with the characters,
but not the script.
 Clearly,
Kukunoor is letdown by the writing. Yet, it must be
mentioned that Kukunoor's comedies aren't the
leave-your-brains-behind types, but inclined towards
the Hrishi-da-Basuda variety, which is always welcome.
The songs are soothing, with 'Same Same But Different'
and 'Mausam Suhana' being well-tuned tracks.
Cinematography is alright, although one feels that
Kukunoor should've set the film in Bangkok, not at a
secluded spot outside Bangkok. The viewers do miss the
beauty of the metropolis.
Shreyas is a fine actor and he proves his abilities
yet again. Lena, the Thai actress, is equally
competent. The actor enacting the role of Rachinder is
good. Vijay Maurya is excellent. Yateen Karyekar is
alright. Naseeruddin Shah is there for just one scene.
On the whole, BOMBAY TO BANGKOK has a few enjoyable
moments, but that's about it. At the box-office, not
much to look forward to!
Rating: *
1/2
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