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First, the Recap:
In life, there are definite things you should simply not do. Well, ok, the list might be a little longer than just a few items. But, besides aiming to avoid killing someone, cheating to win, betraying friendships for personal gain, loving yourself more than others, being mean to animals, not loving your mother, and many others, there is still one that will stand out even amongst those extremes–never, ever, in any way, shape, or form place coveted items in your wallet. However, it appears that’s exactly the predicament two friends (Vir Hirani and Vikrant Antil) found themselves in back in 1990’s era Mumbai when looking to attend the premier of a new, highly anticipated film. Already in danger of running late, they choose to approach a local policeman (Jayant Gadekar) to aid in locating the one friend’s stolen wallet. Seen as an exercise in impossibility, they all embark to right this wrong while learning a valuable lesson along the way.
Next, my Mind:
Enjoying its North American Premier at the inaugural 2019 New York City South Asian Film Festival sponsored by Toyota USA, this actual based-on-a-true-story effort from writer/director Avishkar Bharadwaj, writer Hindukush, along with producer Sneha Kumbhojkar, also stuck out as the shortest of the NYC SAFF shorts with a runtime of only five minutes, while certainly being the most silly, off-the-wall offering to boot. The fact these events even occurred anywhere close to the manner in which they are portrayed baffles the mind, but the film is undeniably entertaining, and amusingly delivered the viewing audience a breathe of comically-infused air that at least gave us all a brief respite from some of the heavier themes being explored in other narratives.
Additionally, this critic also loved the fact that the film represents the determined drive of a group of younger filmmakers who are putting in the commitment of hours to create a movie and make it presentable to the world at large while hoping it even has the opportunity to be placed in front of enough eyeballs to make it stick, garner some form of notice and acknowledgement, and perhaps become part of a larger platform for these aspiring artists to rise up in the ranks if they maintain the work ethic and focused goals that will aid in maintaining what it takes to succeed in a highly saturated business. But, one thing is for sure, comedy is a genre that is, in my opinion, in desperate need of more straight-up goofiness and slapstick and/or situational comedy that just makes us laugh without the burden of the cruder humor that permeates so many contemporary efforts, and this film happily goes along its merry way, utterly content to be a quick bout of fun, giggle-inducing insanity–that is also based on real events! Just cannot get over that!
What’s even more enjoyable is that by the time the film’s finale rolls around, the narrative effectively illustrates how sometimes, even after so much effort, no one ends up getting what they were looking for in the first place, here played for total laughs. It is a riot, and at the same time, the two friends actually might just end up exactly where THEY wanted, leaving everyone else in their wake. Antil gets to be the one of the friends duo who puts the whole mess into motion when upon arriving to pick up his friend to head to the film reveals the conundrum they’re in. He’s apologetic, but that doesn’t assuage the situation. Hirani is the other friend who has more than a conniption upon learning all his anticipation (and break out efforts–see the film, you’ll understand!) is for naught. He’s the voice of reason in the long run and tried to orchestrate a solution. Gadekar is the policeman who the pair approach to rectify their issue, even though he sees it all as absurd and pointless. Yet, he follows through and becomes one of the film’s additionally comedic gems. Together, though, all three actors exude that perfect amount of hysterical delivery that keeps the smile on your face the whole time.
Other main turns arrive from Prakhar Dhimole, Vibhu Vats, and Anmol Sharma with supporting appearances by students of the Asmita Chitra Academy along with Ayush Sharma and Tanya Deora. In total, “Apna Apna Andaz” is the definition of new beginnings for the filmmakers involved and I truly hope they take what they’ve done here, learn their craft even more, continue to evolve their art form, and sustain their passion for the process. This film may not have been the belle of the ball by any means, but let this critic say, for what it was, it’s a great, whimsical start.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
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