A good script is a rarity in Hindi cinema, and director Vipul Shah’s Action Replayy – even when it hearkens back to Hollywood super hits like Back to the Future – is all of that and more.

The film tells the story of a young boy (Aditya Roy Kapoor) who travels back in time to make his parents (Akshay Kumar & Aishwariya Rai) fall in love.

The film will especially appeal to those who have an appetite for seventies nostalgia. The ‘retro’ touch that permeates the film is well done, and one smiles as one re-lives a touch of the magic of Mumbai (then Bombay) of three decades ago. The alternating between the past and future is also credible, though the make-up could have been a lot better.

Dialogues are well written and original. Akshay Kumar provides the necessary histrionic effects to the script in the way that only he can. For a change, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan does emote too. The music from Pritam Chakraborty and Irshad Khan is also well done, and adds a touch of zing to the film.

The only flaw is that neither Akshay or Aishwarya completely carry off the youthful look of a romancing couple, and the role of the leading acting pair (despite Akshay’s immense talent) should perhaps have been assigned to a member of Hindi cinema’s teeming and extremely talented youth brigade.

So a rating of 3 on 5 for Action Replayy. It’s not an original concept, but it has been well adapted to an Indian setting. Definitely an evening well spent at the cinema!

Golmaal is back

What would you expect in a film that brings together Arshad Warsi, Ajay Devgan, Shreyas Talpade, Tushar Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborthy and Johnny Lever. The answer of course must be complete madness, and that’s what you get in director Rohit Shetty’s Golmaal 3.

Two rival groups get into a series of amusing confrontations over their business territory on the beaches of Goa. But things take an unexpected turn when their adopted parents, who loved each other in their youth, get married. Can they all live as one big happy family?

As the film opens, the audience erupts into laughter, and they continue laughing till the final credits roll onto the screen. That sums up the essence of Golmaal 3 – a film thickly laden with gags that camouflage the wafer thin story line.

Witty repartee is brought to life by actors in their element, in a film that is mad by the tremendous chemistry that runs between the ensemble cast. They’ve had a lot of fun working on this film, and it shines through.

The music, also from Pritam Chakraborty,  keeps the intensity of the adrenalin levels running through the film intact.

Yet in the second half the thinness of the plot begins to show, and the patching together of the comedy and serious dramatic elements of the film is slightly clumsy. At this point, the comic element in the film does begin to feel slightly repetitive.

The nostalgia element brought in with Mithun Chakraborty is interesting. But it’s slightly painful to watch him trying to be a young and by this time slightly overweight disco dancer again.

So a rating of 3 on 5 for Golmaal 3. It’s a film that promises to create a riot of laughter at the cinema, even if you are not always sure about what the laughs are all about. ⊕