The best acting comes from the four-legged thespian
There is a saying in show business, never work with children or animals. It was coined when the world was younger and cinema hadn’t really found its legs. But there is a flip side to working with animals. Sometimes, they outperform the veteran humans. And such is the case of Entertainment.
A movie so named in order that the audience doesn’t need to use a brain cell. Then again, you really don’t need to use a brain cell while you watch the movie. Starring Akshay Kumar, Johny Lever, Prakash Raj, Sonu Sood, Tamannaah and Junior the dog, this film is an experience of escalating amounts of pain. You might wonder how in the world did they find such a script? The only acting chops come from the furry actor with manicured nails.
The story opens with a down on his luck young-ish man Akil, played by Akshay Kumar. I say young-ish, what I meant was that he attempts to look young. He suffers and struggles to provide for his father. He dreams of sweeping his beautiful girlfriend off her feet, played by Tamannaah. But fortune is a wicked mistress. In a flash, he learns that he is adopted by a terrible human being and that he can’t marry his sweetheart because he doesn’t have the money. This is where the plot thickens like a curry with cornflour in it. Oh look, he is the unknown son of a multi-millionaire diamond merchant who just happens to croak. Now the son must contest the will. This will states that the entire estate is inherited by the dog named Entertainment. Weird doesn’t even begin to cover it, but we press on. Throw in a bumbling best friend, a slightly loud lawyer played by Johny Lever, two terrible bad guys (terrible as in terribly-scripted, not terrifying). Tadah, that is the whole movie in a nutshell. Fair warning, you will be subjected to awful music. That dribbling feeling that you might feel, would be your brain turning into mush and pouring out of your ears. In the end, everything comes together and look, the dog Entertainment, even he finds his soulmate, a Shih Tzu (no, I am not making that up, it is a breed, stop snickering, okay, a giggle is fine.)
The movie is an attempt at making a family entertainer with a dog cast against a primary lead. An attempt, not a success. You are subjected to the processed script with its cheesy lines and terrible plot. Plus sides: you will root for the dog. You will also have fun figuring out which scenes were green screen. You can also take a look along the row and watch people cringe. Or you might just watch a whole lot of people laughing at the world’s most painful one-liners. It would make a trip to the dentist seem a much less painful option (kidding, at least in the theatre, you get popcorn). Prakash Raj is fun to watch. Sonu Sood isn’t. Akshay Kumar has made a complete hash of things. Tammannah is there as window dressing. Her part is an obvious parody of soap opera actors who take their work home. Trust me, watch it and you will get what I mean. Johny Lever has just been placed there to make you giggle. Some of his jokes are funny, some, not all. Do not fret, you are either going to laugh at the film, or with the film. I’d say the former is more likely. The directors, Sajid-Farhad, have made a movie where you will find pathos not on the screen, but in the suffering of the viewer.
Why should you watch this film?
A good question that is. This movie doesn’t require a lot of thought process. You can leave your brain at home and enjoy a mindless comedy with the standard lines. If you are fond of canines, then watch the dog try to do his thing. He is definitely one well-groomed pooch. They even did his nails. I wonder if they took him in for teeth whitening. The dog is the one bright spark in the movie, and even that dims from time to time. On the whole, a family entertainer with terrible music. A decent attempt but it fails to make the grade. Watch the movie with your little ones (the human kind, don’t know if they allow dogs in the theatre).
0 comments:
Post a Comment