Aamir Khan's 'Happy Patel- Khatarnak Jasoos' Movie Review: Vir Das' frisky comedy is accurate but acquired taste

Cast: Vir Das, Mona Singh, Mithila Palkar, Imran Khan, Sharib Hashmi, Aamir Khan

Director: Vir Das and Kavi Shastri

Language: Hindi

Aamir Khan’s sudden interest in self-deprecating humor needs to be studied and rather meticulously. The actor and filmmaker has always been unpredictable. Roughly two decades ago, he was all cerebral and monosyllabic. Then came a time when he was called the marketing genius of the Hindi film industry. And then he completely disappeared from the radar. Post the unfortunate failure of Laal Singh Chaddha, something in the actor has changed. He has opened up to the point of giving interviews that last for five hours, enjoys being mimicked and imitated by incredibly powerful artists, and welcomes the harshest of criticism. The one thing that has remained intact is his ability as a producer to whip ideas that turn out to be game changers.

When most of the sports dramas, including his own Awwal Number, failed to create a sense of urgency, Lagaan altered the landscape of how cinema was made and conceived. When most of the adult comedies confided in erratic innuendos, Delhi Belly taught how the genre was truly mastered. 14 years later, the actor’s production house comes back with another adult comedy titled _Happy Patel- Khatarnak Jasoos_ that makes an attempt to defy all odds. It’s in the same vein and spirit, and co-directed by Vir Das and Kavi Shastri, and co-written by Das and Amogh Ranadive. And yes, it has a cameo by Aamir Khan himself. Remember his zany dance number Tere Pyaar Ne? Think of his cameo as that fleeting and flamboyant character who comes out of the extravagant music video and becomes a dreaded don who could die any moment.

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Right from the opening credits that question and mock social media outrages, Happy Patel- Khatarnak Jasoos sheds all its pretensions. It’s silly enough to mock its own central characters and smart enough to know how it’s done. But unlike that tenacious collaboration of 2011, this adult comedy relies solely on gags rather than taut humor. It’s accurate but also acquired taste. In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, Das described the film as a hybrid of Johnny English and _Tees Maar Khan_ —both are now called the brain rot entertainers. So Happy Patel, both the film and the eponymous character, are in your face brain rot. And what not! Most of the dialogues are in English and the punches and subtle references are thrown at us at breakneck speed. But amid the chaos, the scene that stands out is the silence that fills the room when a certain minister is to be named who’s surname starts with M.

Vir Das is an author and a comic too, who has seen the world before and after the social media outrage he speaks about in the opening credits of his movie, so silliness and subtlety both are his forte. There is something about the way he approaches comedy, especially when he’s performing it in front of the camera. Right from his earliest appearance in Namastey London to this one, the more cerebral he pretends to be, the more of a clown he appears, but in good ways. It’s crucial to have that dichotomy. But as a writer and director, Das throws in everything into the narrative, leading to some dazzling and deflated moments. This is a comedy that tries to win you over with its intentionally idiotic premise and idiosyncratic characters.

This is the story of an outsider who travels to Goa from the USA for a mission. He tries to fit into the mould. He learns how to survive in the country by different means- It involves watching Shah Rukh Khan’s films, Sanjeev Kapoor’s cooking videos, and everything in between. He falters and fumbles, messes up Hindi as an alien should until it begins to feel home. Is this a comical and clandestine ode to Swades? Most of the humour is derived out of the leading man’s struggles to communicate convincingly. Mithila Palkar, who usually brings a certain amount of respectable restraint in her fluid performance, lets loose for the first time. And ditto for Mona Singh. She was the silent sufferer in Aryan Khan’s remarkably ballsy The Ba*****ds Of Bollywood but here, she chews the scenery by making others go through endless miseries. There’s the long gone Imran Khan too, albeit in a cameo. A hat tip to Delhi Belly is inevitable.

Happy Patel- Khatarnak Jasoos Is so brisk at times that you fail to connect the dots. The mayhem in the already dense plot culminates in a cleverly done finale that is likely to be received with polarized emotions. It’s the coming together of many things, particularly nostalgia. Vir Das’ film is basically another guest at a bar that already has Baadshah, Judaai, Johnny English, and Tees Maar Khan having a ball and beer. They all talk about the lamest of things in the most cheerfully dimwitted ways possible. The crowd around is looking gobsmacked. Some laugh, some loathe. But at least they know they had a good time.

Rating: 2.5 (out of 5 stars)

Happy Patel- Khatarnak Jasoos is now running in cinemas