Ugly Aur Pagli

Rating : 5/10
Running Time : 150 Minutes
Release Date : 1st August ‘08
Director : Sachin Khot ; Writer : Anil Pandey ; Music : Anu Malik
Starring : Ranvir Shorey, Mallika Sherawat, Sushmita Mukherjee

I’m trying to think what I found most interesting in the film. The characterization of Mallika Sherawat as an aggressive, slap-happy female, her hilarious film scripts, Ranvir Sheorey’s passive ‘slave’ characterization, his T-shirts which always seemed to foretell whats going to happen to him or the short-lived character named Debu. All these kind of make up for the predictability and actual implausibility of the whole film, some clichéd & slapstick jokes and the unnecessary melodrama at the end (though the last couple of scenes were actually well handled).

I think Mallika’s actually quite a talented actress who’s acting ability gets overshadowed by her other, more obvious and visible assets. She did a very good job in Pyaar ke Side Effects and continued to impress in this one as a very tom-boyish character, who is hilariously described by Ranvir in the film as a cross between Keshto Mukherjee and Medha Patkar. Add to that shades of Nirupa Roy / Nutan as a weepy waif and you have a more complete picture. Basically, she’s a girl who loves her drink (a little too much), is a strong minded but kinky character, comes up with impossible challenges, who is not hesitant to use muscle vs brain and who prefers ‘yes men’ around her vs men with a mind of their own.

Ranvir Shorey is one of those no-hopers in terms of life and also in terms of women. A guy who’s failed four years in engineering college, a guy who was dressed in girls clothes by his parents for his first few years, a guy who has never done anything of note in his life and a guy who routinely gets beaten by his mother. No wonder, he considers himself blessed to be in Mallika’s company, even if its as her slave.

Sushmita Mukherjee (Kitty of Karamchand fame) has a very nice cameo as Mallika’s mom. Most people act well, fit their roles nicely. The story moves along quite nicely but drags a bit in the second half. It was almost as if the director / writer, having set it up so nicely in the first half, didn’t know what to do with the characters in the second half. Pity, as with a little bit of care, this could have been a truly great film.