Cast: Nana Patekar, Manisha Koirala, Jackie Shroff
| Direction: Parto Ghosh
| Rating: * * | |
| Evidently, it's not the most salubrious season for story-telling. Pilfering
ideas and who-knows-what from the vintage Bengali film, Aparachito (1962) and Fyodr
Dostoevsky's classic novel, The Idiot, Parto Omigosh dishes out some bomb-bombastic
business about a mentally unstable man (who else but Nana Patekar?), who returns to the
sane world, only to flip-flap back to the cuckoo's nest in the end. Ho-ho-humdrum. Sniff. Mr Cuckoo encounters a busload of bozos, including meanie-beanie ministers, a newspaper editor who leads the lifestyle of the Sultan of Brunei (there's hope yet for journos) and a piano-plunking poppet (Ashwini Bhave) who literally makes our Cucks lose his marbles. Heavens! Among the more humane humans who hip-hop into Cuckoo's range are a politician's world-weary mistress (Manisha Koirala) and a desperado gambler (Jackie Shroff),who would rather murder than admit defeat. Russian roulette, anyone? Slipshod direction is the bane of this depressing, melodramatic and morbid flick. Patekar's on-the-edge act has become as repetitive as those ketchup ads on TV. Jackie Shroff is reliably low-key and likeable. Search for a silver lining and you'll find it in the absolutely no-holds-barred performance by Manisha Koirala. As a tough-as-nails woman who can be as vulnerable as an innocent schoolgirl, she's amazing. Here's a brave, beautiful and bang-on performance in front of which the scene-hogging Nana Patekar pales into insignificance. If it weren't for Ms Koirala's life-like presence in this Ughpurush, you would have certainly demanded a refund of your ticket money. |
