Jodi No 1 Review

It all started with a hit in the times when the Indian audience was starved for comedy - of any kind. The Govinda-David Dhawan pair was born. Some vouched for their ability to make you laugh, others thought it was crude and vulgar, and still others preferred not to recognize the existence of such (as they called it) monstrosity.

But whatever the snobs with the upturned noses (yours truly included) said of them, one thing was certain - the pair made a whole lot of commercial sense. With a string of hits in an industry where nothing else matters, they have carved their niche and laughed all the way to their banks. But to the viewers who still believe in the "Golmaal", "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron" or "Chupke-Chupke" kind of comedy, Dhawan jarrs. In this movie as much as in the others.

Jai and Veeru (and here's pronouncing the murder of Sholay) are professional thieves and masters of disguise, and are running from the police. After having a particularly good run, they accidentally kill a don's brother at a bar fight. Thoroughly unrepentant, they flee to Goa and gain admission into the rich household of Rai Bahadur (Anupam Kher), with Jai posing as the NRI son of Rai's childhood friend, and Veeru as Jai's personal assistant. Déjà vu, and that thanks to this same actor's earlier movies like Aankhen and Haseena Maan Jaayegi? Join the club.

The don, Sir John (Aashish Vidyarthi), is devastated by his brother's death, and is busy looking for the duo. Meanwhile, Jai and Veeru romance their loves (Monica Bedi and Twinkle Khanna) and you are treated to some thoroughly forgettable songs. As the two decide to clean up Rai's safe, conscience pricks Jai and he decides to stay to help the sick Rai run his factory. Veeru leaves, only to return.

Then a raving Sir John lands up in Goa and chaos rules supreme. But comedies are entitled their happy endings, and so all ends well. For the characters, that is. As for you, you'll just be glad it ended!

The songs in the movie are not even worth a mention, the performances predictable, the story unbelievably illogical. Sanjay Dutt looks rather zombie-ish and the heroines (?) have pretty little to do (and even that they do badly). Govinda has his moments (make that moment), and only, only if you are a fan of his, might you want to watch this movie.

It is time David Dhawan did some serious soul-searching. Movies are made for entertainment, like he keeps repeating every chance he gets, but his definition of entertainment seems to change with every production, and consistently for the worse.