Review Freaky Ali
Rating: **
Freaky Ali could have been an “albatross” but it turned out to be a “duff”.
Don’t know what I mean? Well, I thought I should brush up on my golf lingo before I watch the Nawazuddin Siddiqui starrer. But you really don’t need to be an ace to understand the film.
You can gauge where most films are heading just ten minutes into them. If I wasn’t there to review the film, that’s how long I would have probably been in the theatre. Yet – let’s be fair – the film is not a total “shank”.
Sohail Khan’s comedy allows a few titters in its attempt to be like big brother Salman’s box office-smashing Dabangg.
Seema Biswas (Siddiqui’s character Ali’s foster mother) holds herself well in the few scenes she had, as does Arbaaz Khan in the role of Ali’s friend Maksood.
Siddiqui, of course, is the silver lining, playing the extortionist-turned-golf champion with the same panache as he did Raman Raghav or a Faizal Khan (Gangs of Wasseypur) or Shaikh (The Lunch Box). Siddiqui plays an underwear seller who turns extortionist with Maksood after the owner of his shop fires him. However destiny has other plans.
A friend of his mother’s, Kishen Lal (Asif Basra), a caddie, notices his hidden talent on the golf course, where he has gone for hafta vasooli (extortion). At this point – after an unnecessary song and dance sequence – you think the story will take a turn.
But the film’s predictability and looseness of plot, which Khan tried to cover up under the garb of a (not-so-funny) comedy is quite tangible. You keep expecting it to grab your attention with each following scene. But that scene never comes.
Music is hardly anything to be written about with none of the three songs making an impression.
Amy Jackson as Megha (Ali’s love interest) is quite forgettable in her miniscule role, while Jas Arora, who plays the, expectedly arrogant reigning golf champion Vikram Rathore, tries really hard to impress and fails. To top it all, you have veteran actor Jackie Shroff making a fool of himself in the climax as the local don – I wonder, if that’s the cameo brothers Sohail and Arbaaz didn’t allow Salman to play.
It’s really not worth paying money to watch Freaky Ali in the theatre. Wait for the world television premiere. And then too, watch only if you are a big fan of Siddiqui’s.
