Ekkees Toppon Ki Salaami

Rating : 5/10
Release Date : 10th October, 2014
Time : 140 minutes
Director: Ravindra Gautam; Writer: Rahil Qaazi; Music : Ram Sampath
Starring : Anupam Kher, Divyendu Sharma, Manu Rishi, Aditi Sharma, Rajesh Sharma, Neha Dhupia, Supriya Kumari, Uttara Baokar, Bhagwan Tiwari, Sudhir Pande



A decent idea, good performances, especially by the lead pair and the ever reliable Rajesh Sharma, and a couple of (intentional) hilarious moments cannot protect the film from the curse of the second half, where it descends to near farcical levels and the yawning chasm of predictability

Common man, honest crusader, the scourge of mosquitoes, Mumbai Municipality employee, Anupam Kher, alas, has two kids who are extremely unlike him. His elder, Manu Rishi, a bit dheela, also in the BMC but corrupt and the younger, Divyendu, a bit of a firecracker, working for the corrupt CM of the state, Rajesh Sharma, as a party employee. The CM’s speechwriter, the cute Aditi, is his girlfriend while the vacuous Neha Dhupia, is the CM’s ‘keep’. The clash of ideals, doesn’t last too long, with Anupam Kher popping it after being wrongly insulted in office and then later by his kids. But not before we discover that he wants to be honoured, at least once, for his honesty and hard work. By a 21 gun salute at his funeral.

You can see most twists coming a mile away and those you can’t, are silly beyond belief (the Swiss bankers bit, for example). The sentimental bits were particularly tedious, especially the flashbacks (via Anupam Kher’s diary), the crowd getting together at his funeral and the ideological clashes between the various members of the family after their patriarch’s passing away. The climax is very painful and very long drawn out

The truly paisa vasool moments are when Aditi actually writes a speech for the CM, translating his expletive filled tirade into a palatable press release, when the CM bemoans the fact that he will go to jail for a mere Rs 12 crore scam when he has cheated so much more and when Neha Dhupia and Rajesh Sharma do a sort of Hindi film item girl retrospective…

This is one of those which would’ve sounded funnier on paper than it does in reel life. A comedy which tries to tread the ground of classics like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron but without being able to incorporate the zany humour of the same and also giving in to maudlin tear-jerking moments at every opportunity. There is also something paradoxical about a common man craving for recognition. Wouldn’t that, then make him, an UnCommon Man ?