Welcome to New York: a movie idea stretched endlessly.
Welcome to New York: * star
India | Hindi | Comedy | Drama
Cast: Diljit Dosanjh; Sonakshi Sinha; Riteish Deshmukh; Lara Dutta; Karan Johar; Boman Irani; Rana Daggubati;
Duration: 117 Minutes
Release: 23rd Feb 2018
Plot: (Wiki)
Teji (Diljit Dosanjh), a sloppy recovery agent who dreams of being an actor, and Jeenal Patel (Sonakshi Sinha), a fashion designer, become part of a big Bollywood event in New York - and chaos ensues.
Review:
The comedy-drama manages to showcase comedy in rare bits and drama in an overwhelming Disney version of melodrama. Starring too many actors the director struggles to make sense of all the subplots at the same time. I would go as far as to say the makers were not sure what the film's main plot is and who the story wishes to focus on.
The story claims to be about a recovery agent Teji and fashion designer Jinal's dream of making it big in showbiz. Both win a ticket to a popular awards show in New York where they get a chance to showcase their talent. However, they soon realise that they are mere pawns in the hands of event manager Sophie, who wants to teach her boss a lesson. Halfway through the subplots about two Karans, Sophie and Mr. Garry start to take the spotlight.
The movie starts with Boman and Lara pitching an idea to companies for IIFA sponsorship. This scene could have easily been scrapped giving the lead charters more screen time. Which either way wouldn't have helped given the fact that even when Teji and Jinal are on screen it appears to talk about whatever comes to their mind. After a few pecks of Whiskey and during a plane journey the definition of their relationship changes from strangers to 'Jigari dost'. Most of the first half looks like Director Chakri Toleti is still setting the background for the story while the second half is filled with actual footage form IIFA 2017.
The constant jumps between 3 cities New York, Gujarat and Delhi, in the first half stops the audience from connecting with even a single charter. The film's songs are mass produced without relevance to the story nor do they support the film's story.
Karan Johar who was supposed to the main attraction of the film shows 23 mins in like he is the lead without a premise, He uses quite a few punch lines, being himself and adding to the depressing comic feel. Karan's counterpart Arjun on the other hand at times loses his personality and begins to behave as JKo himself.
Very few dialogues managed to salvage the film but the awful acting drags it down to the same level. It felt like the makers wanted to add all genres to the film which meant they had to drag Rana to do the action bit.
I have to say the second half feels better since all characters are in the same place and the movie has found a purpose to host IIFA and crack some LGBT jokes. Ritesh provided with some charisma and Arjun saved the last few minutes of the film with his real-life humor. Which turns out to be way better than the rest of the film.
Verdict: was there a point to the movie?
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