Total Siyapaa Hindi Movie

Feature Film | 2014 | UA | Comedy, Drama
Critics:
Total Siyappa is a lesson in knowing that merely seeking inspiration from international films isn't enough one still has to work on the script to make it palatable. A complete waste of a good plot.
Mar 6, 2014 By Mansha Rastogi


There's a certain credibility attached to Neeraj Pandey's work, after all the man made movies like A Wednesday and Special 26. So when you have him penning a script for a film to be helmed by Eeshwar Niwas who made the national award winning film Shool, you expect heaps. But unfortunately, Total Siyappa nose dives into the lowest pits of insipidity even before it starts.


Set in London, the movie is about a love story between a Pakistani boy Aman (Ali Zafar) and Indian girl Asha (Yaami Gautam) that runs into a roadblock when Asha decides to make Aman meet her loud Punjabi family that detests Pakistan. What happens when India and Pakistan come under one roof and how the night turns bizarre by every passing minute is what follows through the rest of the plot.


It's astonishing how the man behind the two gripping thrillers like A Wednesday and Special 26 that went onto winning audience and critical acclaim can go so horribly wrong whilst trying his hand at comedy. A lax and shoddy representation of Spanish film Seres Queridos, the movie despite being one hour 50 minutes in length ends up appearing an unending saga.


The maker tries really hard to tackle the cross-border conflict humorously and convey a message of peace but his efforts are as pointless as the efforts made in reality. Neither does this rom-com brings out the romance or chemistry between the lead protagonists nor brings in any situation that's funny enough for one to chuckle. The gags and punches are so puerile and predictable that it doesn't even make you smile.


Eeshwar Niwas falters in casting as well. Not only is the characterization of side characters week but so is the casting. Characters like Asha's brother, grandfather and sister are so poorly portrayed that they actually leave you annoyed. The only lesser evil in this apology of a film is Kirron Kher. It's her sheer experience and impeccable comic timing that you do laugh once or twice in the film. Anupam Kher gets wasted. Both Ali Zafar and Yaami Gautam suffer from poor characterization.


Total Siyappa is a lesson in knowing that merely seeking inspiration from international films isn't enough one still has to work on the script to make it palatable. A complete waste of a good plot.


Mansha Rastogi

   

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