Movie Review: Mubarakan, a “Kapoor” packed comedy

Movie Review:  Mubarakan
Rating: 2/5
Director: Anees Bazmee
Cast: Arjun Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Ileana DCruz, Amrita Singh, Athiya Shetty

mubarakan posterMubarakan is a typical Bazmee film which starts with loud background music and solid bass. The hero walks in slow motion and dances to peppy tunes, but shows a docile attitude in front of the heroine. Arjun Kapoor takes a cue from Akshay Kumar in Welcome and jumps into this mad-caper wholeheartedly. It’s just that Anil Kapoor is a pro at it and steals all the limelight from him.  The story is funny and the film has some really hilarious dialogues. However, sardar jokes are a bit clichéd and Bollywood needs to get over it.

Most of us don’t expect any sort of explanations from such a film, so it keeps moving from Chandigarh to London in a jiffy with songs thrown in occasionally. They’re anyway needed to hold attention in this 156-minute film.  This is a perfect family entertainer and good for watching with your family on a get together or festive occasions.  Follow Spotlife Asia for the latest Entertainment and Lifestyle news.

Himman Dhamija deserves mention for good cinematography. The film has been shot in picturesque locates in London and Chandigarh.  There are several LOL moments which will make you laugh till your stomach aches. However the film tends to stretch a little in the climax which could be avoided.  The music is good overall. I loved the songs Hawa Hawa composed by Gourov-Roshin and Jatt Jaguar composed by Amaal Mallik. There are too many songs in the film which might bore you.

Anil Kapoor as Kartar Singh steals the show in this film. Watch the film for Anil Kapoor if not for anything else.  Arjun Kapoor does a good job in the double roles of Karanveer Singh and Charanveer Singh.  Ileana D’Cruz as Sweety, Karan’s girlfriend delivers an excellent performance.  Athiya Shetty plays Binkle, Charan’s girlfriend. She really needs to brush up her acting skills.  Rahul Dev (as Binkle’s father), Ratna Pathak Shah (as Karan’s mother) and Pavan Malhotra ( as Charan’s father) are excellent.

You also find dialogues like, “Ye zaroor druggie hai? Ye Punjab se aaya hai.” Then somebody casually mentions, “Udta Punjab,” and everybody starts laughing.
Anil Kapoor, however, tries his best to hold the family and the story together. As someone who unknowingly keeps creating chaos, he has been rightly given a good screen time. The only actor who outperforms in a couple of scenes is Pavan Malhotra. As an always angry hotelier who hates to be seen down upon, he is hilarious.
Unfortunately, such moments keep getting fewer in number in the second half as the film gets totally centered on Anil Kapoor and his antics. Unlike Welcome, he doesn’t get much support from his co-actors and gigs become repetitive in nature.  Some of Priyadarshan’s most likeable comedies also deal with an army of actors and a confusing thread in the climax, but he doesn’t waste much time in clearing the confusion. Bazmee takes time here as some of his characters go for long monologues. This slows down the pace and gives the audience a chance to realize the loopholes in the otherwise over-simplified story.
Mubarakan is designed as a family film where comedy is generated through quarrelling relatives. This works initially but goes out of control later.