Director: Mrighdeep Lamba
Cast: Pulkit Samrat, Manjot Singh. Varun Sharma, Pankaj Trpathi, Richa Chadha and others
Where: In theatres near you
Rating: 3 stars
Filmmaker Mrighdeep Lamba tickled the funny bone with one-of-its-kind of a comic caper back in 2013 titled Fukrey, which went on to set the records unexpectedly. The concept of two useless Delhi boys making money through a lottery ticket just by seeing a weird dream was a freshly baked idea that worked both critically and commercially. Even on satellite, the film was a huge milestone.
In 2017, the makers moved ahead with the second franchise Fukrey Returns, which definitely had a bigger scale but was slightly a notch lower than the first— a natural phenomenon with most of the franchises, but most importantly was a semi-hit at the box office.
In 2023, almost six years later, Mrig and the team bring the third edition of this quirky comedy franchise which is mostly set in Africa this time. Mrig takes the boys to an unknown land in search of a shining diamond but returns to Delhi with a much more chaotic affair.
Hunny (Pulkit Samrat), Choocha (Varun Sharma), Lali (Manjot Singh), and Pandit (Pankaj Tripathi) run their retail outlet but still make decent money by using Choocha’s deja-chu. Bholi Punjaban (Richa Chadha) returns from jail and now preparing for her election campaigning across Delhi. In order to avoid the election face-off with Choocha, she sends the boys to Africa in search of a diamond without knowing what follows next is bizarrely complicated.
The hook scene in the trailer of an air hostess played by City of Dreams fame Lekha Prajapati went viral right from the time it was released. It might look like a lighter one in the narrative but holds a special significance in the third part. Mrig surely surprises in climax but the runtime is a bit of a concern of the third part.
However, he tries to manage the entire vibe and tone for what the franchise stands for but too much toilet humour is irritable. It is mildly hilarious to see how they make money with endless urinating and sweating and creating tonnes of petroleum. But, Mrig cleverly infuses a socio-political issue of water scarcity in Delhi in his narrative.
Zaffar (Ali Fazal), although isn’t a part of this one throughout has an interesting special appearance that stays with you for a long time.
The entire film thrives on Choocha’s solid comic timing, and funny dialogues— seems like Mrig went to extreme lengths to drain out his character from end to start. Hunny has a lesser contribution dialogue-wise but makes his presence felt. Lali and Pandit are somewhat pillars of a shaky screenplay but the former’s helplessness and the latter’s odd English translations add to Choocha’s humour— a few jokes land and a very few not. Bholi is wittier, and feisty but in a way subdued manner.
In his third attempt, a lot more times Mrig pushes to take the franchise forward which might even look forced but his characters save it with their performances.
