Film: Bhaji in Problem Director: Smeep Kang Writer: Naresh Kathooria Cast: Gippy Grewal,Gurpreet Ghuggi,BN Sharma,Ragini Khanna,Om Puri,Khushboo Grewal Music: Jatinder Shah & Surinder Rattan Ratings: ** It was a film that pulled all the tricks in the book created the hype,roped in stars,announced dazzling debuts,secured 600 cinemas for screening and held a glitzy red-carpet premiere. This weeks Punjabi release Bhaji in Problem (BIP) had the industry on the edge. Its success will add years to this fledgling industry,lure in more investors and producers. While it is too early to determine which way the wind blows,BIP is an average film by all standards. It only goes to prove that Bollywood stars like Akshay Kumar (who has produced a Punjabi film for the first time) and celebrated makers such as Ashvini Yardi (of Grazing Goat Productions) are mere baits. Revolving around the usual drama spun out of lies,chaos and confusion,BIP is theatre of the absurd,a Carry on Jatta meets No Entry. The film chugs to a painfully slow start,in a village where two families (of Avtar Gill and Rana Jung Bahadur) are shown at war for reasons best known to them. They reconcile on the condition that Gills son,Jeeta (Gippy Grewal) will marry Bahadurs daughter Roop (Japji Khaira). Roop is in love with the local cop (cricketer Harbhajan Singhs debut role),and Jeeta too objects to the marriage and leaves for the house of his mamaji (Om Puri). This is where Sandeep Cheema (Gurpreet Ghuggi) comes into play. Married to two women (totally illegal),Cheema uses the mamajis house to switch his cars. Everything is working out fine till Cheemas family places a matrimonial ad for his sister Preet (Ragini Khanna) in the paper and gets ready to meet the boy,who happens to be his first wife Jasmeets (Khushboo Grewal) brother Maninder (Karamjit Anmol). A hassled Cheema has to eventually shoot one lie after the other to keep trouble at bay. But the problem only amplifies with the entry of jeweller Mehar Singh (BN Sharma) whose daughter wishes to marry Maninder. Multiplicity at its ludicrous best,with Jeeta and Cheema juggling dual roles,BIP makes up for the lost humour post interval,and an extra star goes to BN Sharma. While he and Ghuggi lift the film,director Smeep Kang and writer Naresh Kathooria disappoint us with a predictable treatment. The music too is nowhere close to hummable. Finally,Akshay Kumar. The superstar comes in a cameo towards the end as Bakshey Kumar,a lookalike of Akshay who dances at weddings. A tad exaggerated but Akshay as Bakshey was hilarious.
