Madgaon Express Movie Review:
Star cast: Divyenndu Sharma, Pratik Gandhi, Avinash Tiwary, Upendra Limaye, Chhaya Kadam, Remo D’Souza, Raviraj Kande, Kunal Kemmu (cameo)
Director: Kunal Kemmu
What is good: Intentionally crazy caper with great humor
What is wrong : The second half needed to be cut a bit
Toilet break: Not really
To watch or not? : Of course! Who doesn’t want to waste money after spending on an entry ticket?
Language: Hindi
Available on: Theatrical release
Duration: 143 minutes
User Rating:
It’s about the repressed “ambition” of three teenagers who have to wait years (and become adults) to visit Goa, which they have always imagined as a dream destination. But it turns out to be a nightmare port instead.
Madgaon Express Movie Review: Script Analysis
Kunal Kemmu has written the story, screenplay and dialogues and even a song on friendship. The first half succinctly shows how three “normal” teenagers from diverse backgrounds all set off to the same destination for a vacation. As “newbie” adults, Dodo, the lower-middle-class Maharashtrian from an ultra-conservative family, Pinku, the enterprising Gujarati, and Ayush all attempt to reach Goa one night defying their parents, only to crash their car (and their desires). in a few minutes. Life goes on and Pinku and Ayush go abroad, while Dodo is stuck, frustrated, in his chawl, alone, depressed and mostly jobless.
Taking advantage of his access to a laptop, Dodo creates a virtual universe in which he shows his friends that he is a big man with a lot of money. The three soon decide to reunite and head to their old safe haven, Goa. Pinku and Ayush don’t understand why their rich friend arranged everything (like traveling on the Madgaon Express instead of taking a flight, etc.) like a middle-class Indian, but he gives them a “credible” reason.
Luck takes over when hypochondriac Pinku’s medicine bag is exchanged for a stranger’s bag which contains a gun, lots of money, and more. At first, the friends panic (Pinku even more so because of the loss of her “allergy” medication!) but soon, they decide on a course of action.
But as soon as they arrive on the beach, check into their first hotel and have their first drink, the games and fun begin… for the audience!
Yes, Goa means booze, babies and drugs, and the storyline unfolds in a whirlwind of misadventures in which strange characters abound, like an eccentric doctor, two rival gangsters and their henchmen who want each other’s blood, a cop, a girl who helps them. but seems to have an agenda and a mysterious man who wanders like a lost soul. And then there’s the man with the bad bag.
The storyline keeps you hooked on the crazy events and takes its gentle but enjoyable time to unravel the knots it gets itself into. And just in case you thought the title of Madgaon Express was irrelevant, since most of the events take place after the trio gets off that train in Goa, you have a delicious reason for the name. And crisp and funny post-climaxes!
Madgaon Express Movie Review: Star Performance
Divyenndu Sharma as Dodo is in many ways the fulcrum of the plot and excels as the destitute techno-geek friend, dominated by his father who craves his friends. Pratik Gandhi frequently speaks his native language, Gujarati (real and real), and is fantastic in the sequence in which he accidentally consumes drugs. Avinash Tiwary, as the restrained, intense and relatively astute mastermind of the three, is very good in an understated role. Nora Fatehi as Tasha is basically doing what she does best: looking elegant and dancing well. She doesn’t have much to do as an actress.
But apart from the three friends, the best performances come from Chhaya Kadam as Kanchan Kombdi, the “wronged” (!) gangster and Upendra Limaye (in another superb turn after Animal) as Mendonca. As for Kunal Kemmu’s cameo, it is among the funniest in cinema history, comparable to that of Asrani in Seeta Aur Geeta, that of Om Puri in Awara Pagal Deewana and that of Abhishek Bachchan in Salaam Namaste.
Tendency
Madgaon Express film review: direction, music
Kunal Kemmu stood out among children in his debut film, Hum Hain Raahi Pyar Ke, apart from the Gul Gulshan Gulfam TV serial earlier, as well as in his debut film, Kalyug. The actor now makes his debut as a screenwriter and screenwriter (he had written the dialogues of Go Goa Gone which had immortal lines) and director and is excelling in all departments, especially since it is his beginnings.
Obviously the inspiration must have come from that 2013 masterpiece in which he also featured (and in which three friends also landed in Goa). But here Kunal gives a fresh, original and juicy twist to the same beach paradise world in India, where psychotropic drugs dominate.
Paying attention to character sketching that is both believable and exaggerated, Kunal keeps Goa in the relevant background and yet we realize that this kind of intentionally bonkers caper couldn’t have been filmed or based anywhere else. Wherever necessary it uses technology and visual effects well, otherwise it’s fun storytelling, even when the bullets are being fired!
The music is another point where the director makes a pertinent point: he uses it in such a way that we get the all-too-sadly-forgotten lip sync songs instead of scattered background notes and item numbers by actors and rappers!
Madgaon Express Movie Review: The Last Word
For my part, I really enjoyed this journey into a vacation that was an anti-climax for the heroes but wildly entertaining for the viewers.
Three and a half stars!
Madgaon Express Trailer
Madgaon Express released March 22, 2024.
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The post Madgaon Express Movie Review: Mad Mix Of Mirth & Mayhem appeared first on Koimoi.
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