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By Taran Adarsh, August 17, 2007 - 11:45 IST
A word of caution: BUDDHA MAR GAYA is piping hot stuff!
You haven't watched something like this before. Be prepared for a bagful of adult jokes that's sure to leave you gaping in shock. At the cost of repeating oneself, let's also add that you need to lock your brains at home when you enter the cineplex to watch BUDDHA MAR GAYA.
Rahul Rawail goes all out this time. His new endeavor touches almost every topic under the sun -- from extra-marital affairs to gay relationships to incest to 'corpse selling'... Most importantly, it mirrors a sad reality: Money is the be-all and end-all.
BUDDHA MAR GAYA is aimed at the masses, those who swear by nonsensical entertainers. It's not for the faint-hearted. You ought to have a strong stomach to absorb a film like BUDDHA MAR GAYA since it shocks you at regular intervals. It's not for those with an appetite for meaningful cinema or for critics, who run down masala/mass appealing films since it's fashionable to do so.
Be forewarned, if you're ready for shocks, BUDDHA MAR GAYA is just for you!
Laxmikant Kabadiya aka LK [Anupam Kher] is one of India's richest industrialists, a self-made man. His conglomerate is on the verge of a 5000 crore IPO that should make them one of the largest companies in the country. LK's family comprising of his spinster twin sister [Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal], his two sons Ranjeet [Bobby Parvez] and Sameer [Mukesh Tiwari], their wives Shruti [Mannat Kaur] and Anju [Mona Ambegaonkar], respectively, Ranjeet's daughters Sanjana [Heenaa Biswas] and Namrata [Madhvi Singh] and Sameer's son Pawan [Jay Soni] can't stop salivating at the thought of all that money.
Unfortunately for all of them, fate displays a wicked sense of humor. On the night before the IPO opens, LK dies while copulating with a starlet [Raakhi Sawant], who's aspiring to become the heroine of a film that LK plans to produce. The family is distraught and horrified. Not because a loved one has died, but because now no one will buy their shares. So, on the advice of their family guru Vidyut Baba [Om Puri], the family decides to hide the death of LK for a period of two days till the shares are all sold out.
Hiding the death of a man as famous as LK is a Herculean task. To make matters worse, every time they're ready to announce LK's death, fate intervenes, forcing them to keep his death hidden for another couple of days. Which results in them having to announce the death of a fictitious friend or relative of LK's. And stage fake funerals. Which, of course, means generating dead bodies and worse, getting the dead LK to make appearances at these funerals.
Complicating matters further are an inquisitive and greedy servant [Paresh Rawal], the Minister's fixer [Murli Sharma], a procurer of dead bodies [Ranveer Shorey], the paparazzi and for good measure a couple of cops. And of course internal jealousies, greed, rivalries within the family only add spice to the goings on.
The tagline of BUDDHA MAR GAYA is, 'You will die laughing', and the film remains faithful to this statement at most times. Of course, you don't break into laughter in every scene, but the fact is that you cannot control your laughter on several occasions. Sure, you may find the brand of humor juvenile and a few jokes obscene, especially the Raakhi Sawant track, but the masses will simply love these portions. In fact, BUDDHA MAR GAYA is hot, steamy and spicy with tremendous shock-value.
Director Rahul Rawail steps into a new territory with BUDDHA MAR GAYA and as a storyteller, narrates an interesting plot successfully. Agreed, a film like BUDDHA MAR GAYA is not everybody's idea of entertainment, but Rawail knows his fundas right. He uses everything on the shelf to make a black comedy. Yet, it must be mentioned that the writing could've been tighter. The screenplay isn't too convincing at times, like the Murli Sharma track or the Manoj Joshi episode in the climax. The writing goes awry on these occasions.
Rawail's idea of using popular tracks in the background, like 'Beedi' [OMKARA], 'Cheeni Kum' [CHEENI KUM] and 'Chak De Phatte' [KHOSLA KA GHOSLA] add to the enjoyment. Dialogues [Anand Sivakumaran] are dipped in sarcasm at times and are saucy at places. However, a film like BUDDHA MAR GAYA signifies that the censors have become quite lenient these days, which is a welcome sign.
BUDDHA MAR GAYA doesn't demand histrionics as such, but the ones who stand out are Om Puri [terrific], Mukesh Tiwari [able], Mona Ambegaonkar [competent], Bobby Parvez [nice], Jay Soni [confident] and Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal [fantastic].
Anupam Kher, the narrator and also the corpse, is very good. Paresh Rawal deserved better lines and situations. Rakhi Sawant is in top form. Ranveer Shorey is okay. Murli Sharma is efficient. Prem Chopra is perfect.
On the whole, BUDDHA MAR GAYA has terrific title-value, abundant shock-value and strong entertainment-value as factors going in its favor. At the box-office, this one's for the masses completely!
 
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