F.A.L.T.U

Cast:Jackky Bhagnani,Pooja Gupta,Chandan Roy Sanyal,Angad Bedi,Arshad Warsi,Riteish Deshmukh,Darshan Zariwala,Akbar Khan

Rating:**1/2

First off,don’t go by the name. If you are a college-goer,or an on-the-verge-of-college teen,chances are you might enjoy ‘F.A.L.T.U’. Those older,venture in at your own risk,but again,chances are that you might be mildly entertained,at least some of the time.

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I was,despite being bludgeoned by the completely improbable script. I had gone in with rock-bottom expectations,given leading man Jackky Bhagnani’s terrible previous outing,in which he tried to be a conventional singing-dancing hero of the kind the 80s brought out in a rash. Sensibly,he’s been confined here to being a slacker,the kind who barely manages to pass,and who thinks he can get by partying all his life. So do his pals : a girl (Gupta),and two guys (Sanyal,Bedi).

This is another foursome,but they manage to make us smile through their asinine plan : if no decent college will have you,why,just dream up one of your own,and pass it off as a bona-fide institution. Just like that. You swallow this swift appearance of a good-looking edifice in place of a rundown building,and the sudden arrival of hundreds of other ‘faltus’ who didn’t get placed elsewhere. Can four soft-living youth,who’ve probably held nothing but a pen till now,convert a ‘khandhar’ into a spic-and-span building with their own hands? Oh well,okay.

The first half passes by quickly. In the second,predictably,there’s altogether too much repetitive dancing and singing till,predictably,everyone,including senior citizens (Warsi and Deshmukh) whose only job seems to be to show up,suffers from an attack of conscience. Overnight,the partying turns into a oasis of studiousness and speechifying : what happens to those who get pass marks and can never make the cut-offs to the next level? Good point,but oh such belabouring.

The young gang is watchable,even if they are made to swap sense for a few broad laughs. The best of the lot is Chandan Roy Sanyal,so good as the dopehead in ‘Kaminey’. He stands out,even at his silliest.

shubhragupta@expressindia.com