Khaali Peeli Movie review: Ishaan Khatter, Ananya Panday on poster (courtesy ishaankhatter)
Discard: Ananya Panday, Ishaan Khatter, Jaideep Ahlawat, Swanand Kirkire
Director: Maqbool Khan
Evaluation: 1.5 stars (out of 5)
Khaali peeli? Absolutely. There is no rhyme or reason – that’s what khaali peeli means – in this star of Ishaan Khatter-Ananya Panday who thinks – if she thinks at all – being crazy is the best thing to be. The young main couple is trying to achieve some kind of chemistry. The concerted act without brakes doesn’t quite unfold because the storyline continues to lead the audience around the bend.
Khaali Peeli, directed by Maqbool Khan, is too manic a masala film from Mumbai for its own good. The title hints at the colors of Mumbai’s taxis, but neither the sights and sounds of the megalopolis nor the taxis that dominate its busy streets get the play they deserve. Khaali Peeli is not only color blind, he is also deaf. While the backdrop is blurry, the soundscape is an assault on the ears.
Part of the story takes place in a brothel where neither the khaala responsible for the girls, nor the larger than life gangster who runs the prostitution business looks or behaves like a sex trafficker. The latter’s goons are a goofy bunch – they’re supposed to remind us every now and then that Khaali Peeli is an action comedy. It’s not much either – action or comedy.
For reasons best known to directors, we’re looking to throw a shiny coat around the crime of trafficking in girls – the female protagonist of the film is one of them, the others we barely see. The company is emptied of its itching and almost normalized.
The objective of Khaali Peeli, playing on Zee5, is about a pair of childhood sweethearts who are brought together by fate on an eventful night of adventure that culminates in a clash between life and death. What happens between the two ends of the tale is the subject of the film.
The young couple are on the run – one from the police after an accidental stab, the other from a bunch of morons. The two must get out of town before they are caught. But how far can they really go if they get lost in a Mela where they pose as performers in extravagant outfits and sway to a custom song to slow the pace of the movie?
The boy, taxi driver Vijay Chauhan (Ishaan Khatter), wants to get away from Mumbai because the metropolis hasn’t given him a minute of peace – trouble has chased him endlessly over the ten years he spent in the city. He is a fugitive born with the innate wiles of a survivor. “Jab Blackie bhagta hai ussey hawa bhi nahi pakad saktiHe boasts. Do you want to catch up with him? Banish that thought. It is not worth the trouble.
Khaali Peeli is meant to be a tribute to the formulaic films of yore. From the start, the driver compares his “ki kahaani lifeto a Bollywood masala movie that starts exactly where it ends. It might sound exciting if you are a fan of Mumbai boilers. But be careful, don’t get your expectations too high.
The daughter, Pooja (Ananya Panday), escapes a forced marriage with a much older man to whom she has been promised. Tracing a bag full of money and gold ornaments, she hires the taxi, which is about to leave with no particular direction. All the lady wants is to be abandoned outside the confines of Mumbai.
Vijay changes his taxi number from 6969 to 9696 in hopes of giving the slip to the police. The man they have to leave their backs is Inspector Tawde (Zakir Hussain). Somewhere along the way, the hero also meets a cop from Gujarat (Satish Kaushik in a cameo) who is as dumb as a paintbrush.
He discusses the uncharitable portrayal of the police in Hindi films. He regrets that in Dhoom The “policeman” Abhishek (Bachchan) did not receive his due while chasing the “criminal” John (Abraham). This can only happen in movies, he claims. He doesn’t have to go far to gather evidence: he’s in exactly one of those movies.
Khaali Peeli is a love story in the guise of a road movie. Vijay aka Blackie had to leave her hometown of Shivpuri after a botched heist at a jewelry store ten years ago, and Pooja, a young girl trafficked into a Kamathipura brothel before the age of ten, tells the boy that she is Red Riding Hood when the elder explains the origin of her own name.
As Red Riding Hood changes from a little girl to an 18-year-old, an evil wolf – Hemant Choksi (Swanand Kirkire) – lurks for it. The rich man, a sad specimen indeed, decides to remain a virgin until the girl is 18. His heinous plan is backed by brothel owner Yusuf Chikna (Jaideep Ahlawat). “Hamare dhande mein zabaan ki keemat jaan se bhi zyada hoti hai», Intones the latter.
The energy you would expect from a film starring a young lead pair does not acquire any sort of consistency given the unevenness of the script. It comes and goes through time, sometimes by years, others by hours and minutes, and offers a bumpy ride.
If anyone is looking for depth in Khaali Peeli, the film half-heartedly attacks feminism. This will make us believe that the heroine is a fiery girl who knows her mind. Scratch the surface and you see her for what she is – a woman happy to be pushed around. But, for the form, when the hero claims ownership, she retaliates: Baap ka maal lagti hoon? This question is as random as everything else Khaali Peeli.
At the climax, the movie allows the girl to have a piece of the action lest we end up feeling like she’s just a damsel in distress who needs an act. safety. She throws a few punches at the villain but fails to make any meaningful comment. The simple mimicry of men counts for little.
“Angrezon ke zaamane ka jailer“Asrani was treated so badly by” Amit aur Dharam “in Sholay) have their wasted moments.
Khaali Peeli is a soggy affair. The popcorn entertainment it offers has no crunch. With the inanity stifling the effervescence that Ishaan Khatter and Ananya Panday bring to the concoction, the final reading on the meter is ZERO.
