No Bawl

So,why would you go and watch 99? Because Cyrus Broacha makes you feel good about babyerr the whole big fat family of fat,in general...

Written by PiyasreeDasgupta
May 16, 2009 02:49 AM IST

3 min read

Film: 99
Director: Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK
Cast: Vinod Khanna,Boman Irani,Kunal Khemu,Cyrus Broacha,Soha Ali Khan,Amit Tiwary
Rating:*****
Running at: Inox (Forum,City Centre,Swabhumi)
So,why would you go and watch 99? Because Cyrus Broacha makes you feel good about babyerr the whole big fat family of fat,in general. Because Kunal Khemu makes you feel good about not being able to hit on anyone on anything more than 3 inches of heel. Because Boman Irani makes you feel good about being a mad man. Because Soha Ali Khan makes you feel good. Just like that. Or else,because you need an excuse to visit your favourite multiplex.

Said that,what else remains in Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DKs debut vehicle? A plot that starts off funnily enough but somehow gets waylaid by a couple of romantic interludes stretched beyond what should have been their screen time. A wafer-crisp chemistry between Khemu and Broacha,small time crooks in the movie. Some crazy moments,all thanks to Broachas infallible familiarity with the constitution of the funny bone and Khemus smart ways of finding ways to tickle it. That apart,99 should probably last long enough for you to finish your bucket of popcorn.

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Sachin (Khemu) and Zaramud (Broacha),are two small time crooks who make a living out of making and selling duplicate SIM cards. While trying to escape from the police,they end up using don AGMs (Mahesh Manjrekar) car who vows revenge for his mangled car. Finally,the two end up working for AGM,helping him manage his accounts,collect money from defaulters. Soon,they are sent to track down Rahul (Boman Irani),an obsessive gambler in the guise of a clean IT professional. Their paths and destinies cross,setting them off in a mad scramble for money and a lot of it.

The directors only achievement probably lies in fleshing out the quirks in each character making them suitably weird,easily funny. Irani can sleepwalk through roles like this being flawed and funny seems to run in his blood. Soha Ali Khan has nothing much to do but whats a film without some eye candy? Amit Tiwary and Mahesh Mahesh Majrekar keep the humour kicking throughout.

Though the film picks up its rolling pace post-interval,its the same half that seems to be fraught with all the loose ends.

All said and done,99 is quite a drizzle in the midst of a drought. Its good-looking,satisfactorily funny,and has a sizeable (though tackily put) bit of cricket in it. So go,lap it up!