Short kut: the con is on - Movie Reviews

What it's about: Producer Anil Kapoor always said his film company believed in making 'different' movies with Gandhi My Father offering a glimpse of his vision. And then Anil springs up Short Kut with director Neeraj Vora making the most unpalatable khichdi out of the Malayalam superhit and Mohanlal starrer, Udayananu Tharam, a take-off on Eddie Murphy's Bowfinger.

Short-kut is about assistant director Shekhar (Khanna) who is in love with an actress (Rao). He soon gets a chance to become a director himself. He writes a brilliant script but it is stolen by his friend Raju (Warsi), a struggling actor.

Raju uses the script to launch himself as a hero and goes on to become a superstar. A shattered Shekhar loses interest in his work and reaches a point where nothing matters. It's payback time when he decides to make a film with Raju in the lead; however without the actor knowing it. How he pulls off this con is what the rest of the film is about.

What's hot: With Neeraj Vora (the writer of Hera Pheri and the director of Phir Hera Pheri), at the helm of things, you expect a laugh riot, especially when it's been scripted by Anees Bazmee. The dialogues are good in places and some of the sequences have their funny moments.

Arshad manages to evoke a few laughs but the surprise funny man of the film is Chunky Pandey. Amrita Rao is competent but doesn't succeed in looking sexy, despite the skin show.

What's not: It's just a perfect example of how an interesting script can be ruined beyond repair with bad execution. Firstly, the director tries to add humour even where it's not required it seems forced and over the top.

There is no chemistry between Akshaye and Arshad at all; each one is doing his own thing. The film just drags on aimlessly, especially in the first half. Even the usually competent Arshad looks disinterested in the proceedings.

The stereotypical characters are far too many from the chawl-wallas and their forced camaraderie to the suffering actress being milked by the family her ambitious parents and her possessive brother essayed by Ali Asgar (once a talented actor, now a hamming expert thanks to his loud TV shows). The Akshaye-Amrita romance is as thanda as the actor's performance.
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What's that! Suddenly after marriage, Akshaye and Amrita move into a plush house. And this happens when they don't even have money for groceries. Yeh baat kuch hazam nahin hui.u00a0

What to do: If you're brave enough to see it, when you leave the theater, you'll see the ushers having the last laugh. Because the biggest con is on you.

Short kut: the con is on
U/A; Comedy
Dir: Neeraj Vora
Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Arshad Warsi, Amrita Rao
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Short kut: the con is on At a theatre near you...

Fame Cinemas, PVR Cinemas, Big Cinemas, Fun Cinemas, Inox Cinemas, Cinemax (All), Movietime (All), Sterling, Roxy, 24 Karat