<img title="'Banjo' - Movie Review" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/sep/banjo-movie-review.jpg" alt="'Banjo' - Movie Review" /> Riteish Deshmukh and Nargis Fakhri in 'Banjo'
'Banjo' U/A; Musical-drama Director: Ravi Jadhav Cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Nargis Fakhri, Dharmesh Yelande Rating:&nbsp;<img title="'Banjo - Movie Review'" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/2016/sep/1-half-stars.gif" alt="'Banjo - Movie Review'" />
It all started off quite well, if you ask me. Not just for the film, but who I was watching it with. Somehow the quiet (&lsquo;put your cellphones off&rsquo;), sanitised environment of the plush multiplex has taken away the charm of a lively theatre, where people of all classes mingle to enjoy a show together &mdash; even talk back to the screen. I felt that in my relatively low-priced Chembur (Mumbai) multiplex with this film.
Maybe the full-on Mumbaikar audiences showing up for the early morning, first-day show of this movie had something to do with the lead actor, Riteish Deshmukh, who&rsquo;s been enjoying a strong front-bench following lately &mdash; since the release of the Marathi blockbuster, 'Lai Bhaari', in particular.
This film&rsquo;s set in the slums and chawls of Mumbai, and most of its inhabitants might relate to the day-to-day problems it briefly touches upon &mdash; water tank issue, space constraints, builder mafia, local political patronage, life in general. Some scenes are competently shot. The ensemble cast playing a bunch of road-side Romeos look convincing. In the background is the sound of Mumbai &mdash; basically bunch of drums being relentlessly beaten the hell out of &mdash; as it is during the Ganpati season, and at Navratri thereafter, and so many street festivals that precede and follow it.
This ground-level setting panned out quite well in the film 'ABCD: Any Body Can Dance' (2013), if you recall, which was a pure dance movie. This one&rsquo;s a musical, in a Bollywood sort of way where songs exist for their own sake, rather than necessarily to take the story forward. But the story-line&rsquo;s roughly the same. As it is with hundreds of similar pictures, about a group of poor street talents, looking to hit the big league. This genre has produced even B-grade gems, like Mithunda&rsquo;s 'Dance Dance' (1987; &lsquo;Aa gaya, aa gaya, halwawallah aa gaya&rsquo;), directly lifted from 'Fast Forward' (1985).
In fact, this movie packs in so many hero-villain, poor-rich type clich&eacute;s, and so much melodrama, from the time-tested rule-book, that even if you didn&rsquo;t bother watching the film, you&rsquo;d know all that happens in it. There&rsquo;s an NRI &lsquo;gori&rsquo; singer here, who chills out with the unwashed masses, searching for a &lsquo;banjo band&rsquo; she can collaborate with.
Nargis Fakhri plays this girl, or rather she chooses not to play anything at all &mdash; not even herself. It&rsquo;s slightly depressing to watch an actor hit the big league with such little acting talent to continually justify her presence up there &mdash; besides great looks alone. The same could be said for a film that looks good, but has such little material to justify its screen time &mdash; besides a couple of decent songs alone.
The hero opposite Nargis is Riteish, of course, the tanned sadak-chaap mawaali, with a pony tail, thick beard, looking a shade of Shah Rukh Khan from Happy New Year, which this movie seems so similar to as well.
Let me not go on. So yeah, you&rsquo;ve been there, seen that; why watch this same kinda picture again? I don&rsquo;t know. I&rsquo;m only glad that some of the guys in my theatre were at least responding to it, while I was sadly falling asleep.

'Banjo' - Movie Review: Riteish Deshmukh starrer 'Banjo' packs in so many hero-villain, poor-rich type clichu00c3u00a9s, and so much melodrama, from the time-tested rule-book, that even if you didn't bother watching the film, you'd know what happens. Yeah, you've been there, seen that; why watch this same kinda picture again? Mayank Shekhar doesn't know

'Banjo' - Movie Review & Rating

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'Banjo' packs in so many clich&eacute;s, and so much melodrama, from the time-tested rule-book, that even if you didn't bother watching the film, you'd know what happens. Yeah, you've been there, seen that; why watch this same kinda picture again? Mayank Shekhar doesn't know

'Banjo' - Movie Review

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