Cast: Jacky Bhagnani, Arshad Warsi, Puja Gupta, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Madhavan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Kareena Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Sushmita Sen, Mallika Sherawat, Abhishek Bachchan, Akbar Khan
Director: Remo DSouza
The movie, FALTU is directed by the ace choreographer Remo D’Souza and it is a first for him. No wonder that the audiences will be treated to mind boggling dance moves in the movie. The word “faltu” means complete waste in Hindi. The name suggests that the movie is going to be different from the other flicks. It is comedy at its best laughing at the current educational system of the country. The music director for the flick is Sachin Jigar and Sameer had taken up the responsibility of penning the lyrics for the songs. Vashu Bhagnani is the proud producer of the film. The movie is particularly releasing on the all fool’s day, 1st April 2011, to celebrate the fun and frolic of the movie.
The story of the movie revolves around four best friends, who are good at nothing and are permanently marked as failure by the education system. The three boys and the girl stay together and enjoy the life together. However, things change as they went through a life changing experience. The satire on the educational system tries to highlight the message that students should not be forced to study as per their parent’s whims; instead they should be given the freedom to choose what they wish to do. The star cast of the movie includes Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Angad Bedi, Jacky Bhagnani and Puja Gupta.One, the last movie from the same makers was called Kal Kisne Dekha (yeah, no one I know saw it too).
Two, this is what in Bollywood should be termed the ‘family film’. Which isn’t to suggest it’s meant for family viewing. But that a family’s made it (for its own pleasures first): Pappa (Vashu Bhagnani) is the producer, mummy (Honey Bhagnani) the associate, old protégé (Ritesh Deshmukh) is in the cast… Beta (Jackky Bhagnani) is the superstar, of the film, and of 14 original songs in it, most of them ‘item numbers’. The peppiest track, Party baaki hai is shot as an ad for Nissan Mycra (which by the way is darned smooth for a small car). Heroines in Hindi movies though are the only movable commodities that need no parental connections to compete for stardom. Hardly a film hero or producer, you may have noticed, wants their daughters to get into this trade. They just know better, I guess. The one here (Puja Gupta) is rightly a newcomer. Stepping out of a film such as this, I felt, “Ah, wasn’t bad at all!” This tells you as much about my experience of the movie as the expectations held when walking into it.
The lead boy’s father here sells bangaar (scrap) for a living. The boy himself would be scrap material for an education system that values marks scored in an exam alone. They don’t give you points for partying. That’s what the hero and his friends do. They can barely pass a written test. Except for one of them (Chandan Roy Sanyal, inspired casting), whose strict dad (Akbar Khan, imitating his late brother Feroze) coerces him into academics. The said geeky kid could also do with some fun. He’s scored a 90-plus, gotten admission into a top college, which would be a three-year paid vacation anyway. As all Indian liberal arts colleges are, and that isn't emphasized here. His buddies are struggling in their early 40s. No college will accept them. Their parents are understandably disillusioned. It may be too late for a rain check. The hero is equally helpless.
He and his friends cook up a college name then, design its fake website, advertise the non-existent school in news-dailies. They take over a disputed property, hire film extras (“junior artistes” in Bollywood-speak) to pose as students. Just so their parents can come, drop them off to this supposed school, leave for home, feeling secure about their kids’ future. The amount the kids probably spend to start a college from scratch could find them a place at various private universities that offer seats against capitation fee. But that’s another matter. Mom-pops are satisfied. Plan works. Or it doesn’t. Turns out hundreds of other low-scoring students have also turned up at the same fake school, hoping to be enrolled. Half a dozen writers have been credited for this film. The director is also the choreographer (since that would be most of his work). Plagiarism is still acceptable in Bollywood. The flick has been richly lifted from a Steven Pinker flick, called, well, Acceptable (2006). Which, by the way, has already been cogged once by another local filmmaker (KD Satyam’s Admission Open, last year). Huh!
The fake college in the original stood for SHIT (South Harmon Institute of Technology). The one here’s called Fakirchand and Lakirchand Trust University (in short, FALTU). A fully equipped campus is in place. Swimming pool works well. Crates of beers have been ordered. Mindlessness shouldn't be measured. Frat-boy, crass fun is a legit Hollywood genre (Old School, American Pie etc). The unlikely issue with Faltu is it isn’t faltu enough. It unleashes a lengthy manifesto for educational reforms insetad. Kids learn to make their imagined hobbies their chosen careers, watch videos of fashion designers, DJs, chefs, fitness instructors, choreographers… The film’s director (Remo); director of Housefull and Hey Baby, Sajid Khan; fashion designer Manish Malhotra etc walk in to lecture students on how to make it in life (or films). Clueless collegians look up, impressed. The suggested professions are possibly harder to break into than passing simple school exams. But then Everyone wants to tap into fancies of the indeterminate youth that makes for majority of India’s consumers. Most mistake their clothes for attitude. I just worry for the heavy icons we offer them, and lessons we dole out. Step into this employment exchange entertainment. Thank god, if you don’t have a child to raise. Curse your luck, if you do.Just before you think that F.A.L.T.U. is yet another college romcom in the offering, hold on for a second. That's because the film is not a romcom, it is indeed a 'dramcom' where drama and comedy run parallel to each other.
F.A.L.T.U. starts in a manner that one expected it to be. Three youngsters (Jackky Bhagnani, Puja Gupta, Angad Bedi) just want to have their quota of fun. They are pretty much carefree about their career ahead and resultantly fail to get admission in any college. They try to take help of their fourth friend's (Chandan Roy Sanyal) influential father (Akbar Khan) but are ridiculed there as well. However life takes a turn for them when together, they end up setting a fake university by default. Soon there are hundreds of students who throng the university and now the quartet has a task cut out for them to create a roadmap for everyone's career ahead. In this endeavour of theirs, they are supported by Arshad Warsi (who is a man for all seasons) and Riteish Deshmukh (who is a motivational help). Let's face it, the film's basic premise is as truly unbelievable as it is impossible to imagine everything around the university, its hostel, it's maintenance cost, other bills etc. to be funded without any financial backing. However once audience gets it in his/her mind that it is a movie which is being watched rather than a serious docudrama, F.A.L.T.U. turns into an enjoyable watch.
The initial scenes where these friends are is struggling to get admission into a college, the sequence when they take help from Arshad and Riteish, the twist in the tale when hundreds of students land up at the university all of this keeps the fun element on during the first half of the film. Second half stays on to be enjoyable as well though there is more drama than comedy in this part of the film. Jackky's conversation with his dad (Darshan Zariwala) where the latter explains to him the meaning of something waste turning useful after all, his idea of making things far more productive at the college, the extended sequence at a graveyard where all students come together to select a choice of their subject there are quite a few highlight sequences that ensure that F.A.L.T.U. doesn't dip.
There are portions towards the latter part of the film which could entice mixed reactions from the audience though. Celebrities talking to camera about what goes behind excelling in their respective fields may be either grabbed with both hands or could see indifference coming their way. However from the message perspective, these scenes are bang on.
What takes the film to a different high altogether though is the song 'Awaaz' which forms the climax of the film. A stage dance performed by all the 'faltus', it boasts of some brilliant choreography that belongs to never seen before variety. Amongst performances, Jackky leads from the front and shows a maturity in approaching his character as he transforms from a beer guzzling youngster to someone who tries to find a meaning in not just his life but also that of his college-mates. He dances brilliantly as well, especially in the song 'Fully faltus'. From this point on, he should be finding a good standing for himself in the industry. Puja not just looks pretty but also acts confidently with an uninhibited approach. She is supposed to be casual in the film but never goes overboard. Chandan gets a lengthy role for himself post 'Kaminey' and impresses in practically every scene that he appears. As for Angad, one can see a good actor behind a tough physique. Amongst the 'veterans' in the cast, Arshad and Riteish prove to be the anchors in the scenes where they appear. Cast in meaningful roles which are not mere guest appearances, they leave a mark. Amongst other actors, Darshan Zariwala leaves maximum impact, especially in the two scenes where he explains the meaning of 'kabaad' to his son.
At the end of it all, director Remo D'Souza ensures that F.A.L.T.U. stays on to be an entertainer with soul. You expect a cool campus entertainer from F.A.L.T.U. After all songs like 'Chaar Baj Gaye', 'Fully Faltu.', 'Bhoot Aaya' and especially 'Le Ja' (all composed by Sachin-Jigar) have already become quite popular over the weeks gone by which means that campus crowds have already been enticed enough to check out the fun quotient that the film brings on. But then the film's purpose is not just to entertain but also educate. And it does that successfully in it's own sweet manner.F.A.L.T.U? Not quite. A film that takes stinging swipes at our education system cannot live up to a title as uninspiring as that.
F.A.L.T.U turns out to be quite a pleasant surprise. Fresh, feisty, vivacious and vibrant, and with an important message on the gaping loopholes in our education system, this film gets your adrenaline all pumped for its energetic storytelling and more than a fair share of juvenile antics which stop short of being annoying because they represent the dimmed aspirations of hundreds of school drop-outs and semi-drop-outs who run adrift in the absence of the requisite marks to get into college. The film offers a solution borrowed straight from Steve Pink's 2006 high-school comedy "Accepted" where the losers and other unlikely heroes opened their own bogus college to pacify their disgruntled parents. Is Bollywood still doing unofficial remakes? As in Ayan Mukerjee's vastly superior "Wake Up, Sid," the aimless protagonist takes the earnest parents for granted until the terrible marks precipitates a domestic crisis for the academic failures.
After a point, the storytelling acquires a life of its own independent of any other films, desi or firangi. The film exudes a certain gaiety and ebullience. Bright showy colours are used to convey the shallow life where the only thing to look forward after a party is an after-party. Post-debutant director Remo d'Souza (he has earlier directed a Bengali film) lets the four principal characters do their own thing. A spirit of unconditional bonhomie runs through the hyper-activity of the characters, as they party, party and then party some more. And then somewhere down the line they want to get serious about their education. Interestingly, the bonding among the quarter of friends never goes into any emotional tangents. There isn't even a hint of a romance between Jackky Bhagnani and debutante Pooja Gupta who are the official hero and heroine. None of the four principal characters gets to lord over the proceedings. There are no romantic duets, no attempt to create individual alcoves of emotional or dramatic interest for any of the characters. Not one moment touches your heart. This isn't a film that encourages a slackening of narrative energy.
The performances are largely functional. Jackky Bhagnani shows a marked improvement since his last film. He gets dependable support from Chandan Roy Sanyal and to a lesser extent Angad Bede. Among the senior cast one is rather taken aback to see Rameshwari who once played the charming scenestealer in "Dulhan Wohi Jo Piya Man Bhaye", as Angad Bedi's South Indian mother. Angad looks as South Indian as Bishan Singh Bedi. But then we aren't really looking for cultural specificity in these actors. These characters represent a state of mind. They live in a world of vibrant colours.They are a part of a world where poor academic performance has turned them into diehard pleasure-seekers. To avoid thinking of what darkness lies in the future for these young losers,there's always the next party. Come, let's join the fun.F.A.L.T.U? Not quite. A film that takes stinging swipes at our education system cannot live up to a title as uninspiring as that.
F.A.L.T.U turns out to be quite a pleasant surprise. Fresh, feisty, vivacious and vibrant, and with an important message on the gaping loopholes in our education system, this film gets your adrenaline all pumped for its energetic storytelling and more than a fair share of juvenile antics which stop short of being annoying because they represent the dimmed aspirations of hundreds of school drop outs and semi drop outs who run adrift in the absence of the requisite marks to get into college.
The film offers a solution borrowed straight from Steve Pink’s 2006 high-school comedy “Accepted” where the losers and other unlikely heroes opened their own bogus college to pacify their disgruntled parents. Is Bollywood still doing unofficial remakes? As in Ayan Mukerjee’s vastly superior “Wake Up, Sid,” the aimless protagonist takes the earnest parents for granted until the terrible marks precipitates a domestic crisis for the academic failures. After a point, the storytelling acquires a life of its own independent of any other films, desi or firangi. The film exudes a certain gaiety and ebullience. Bright showy colours are used to convey the shallow life where the only thing to look forward after a party is an after-party.
Post-debutant director Remo d’Souza (he has earlier directed a Bengali film) lets the four principal characters do their own thing. A spirit of unconditional bonhomie runs through the hyper-activity of the characters, as they party, party and then party some more. And then somewhere down the line they want to get serious about their education. Interestingly, the bonding among the quarter of friends never goes into any emotional tangents. There isn’t even a hint of a romance between Jackky Bhagnani and debutante Pooja Gupta who are the official hero and heroine. None of the four principal characters gets to lord over the proceedings. There are no romantic duets, no attempt to create individual alcoves of emotional or dramatic interest for any of the characters. Not one moment touches your heart. This isn’t a film that encourages a slackening of narrative energy.
The performances are largely functional. Jackky Bhagnani shows a marked improvement since his last film. He gets dependable support from Chandan Roy Sanyal and to a lesser extent Angad Bedi. Among the senior cast one is rather taken aback to see Rameshwari who once played the charming scenestealer in “Dulhan Wohi Jo Piya Man Bhaye”, as Angad Bedi’s South Indian mother. Angad looks as South Indian as Bishan Singh Bedi. But then we aren’t really looking for cultural specificity in these actors. These characters represent a state of mind. They live in a world of vibrant colours.They are a part of a world where poor academic performance has turned them into diehard pleasure seekers. To avoid thinking of what darkness lies in the future for these young losers,there’s always the next party. Come, let’s join the fun.
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