True Review : Filmistaan

The film begins on as promising a note as the trailer does, with the same opening scene. Our over-enthusiastic protagonist, Sunny Arora (Sharib Hashmi) is wolfing down an invisible bar of chocolate. His vocal relishing is deemed inappropriate for the advertisement. This is just the first of the many auditions he is shunted out of. It’s not bad luck. Simply bad talent.

He takes to working as an assistant director for an American documentary crew in Rajasthan, but ends up getting kidnapped by the terrorist group from across the border. They had their sights on the foreign team, which would’ve served as leverage to release a few of their comrades, but a misunderstanding leads to a dramatic captive in their custody.

Holed up in a village, in piracy dealer Aftab’s (Inaamulhaq) house, who shares Sunny’s love for Hindi films, terrorists Mehmood (Kumud Mishra) and Jawwad (Gopal Dutt) have quite a task before them, to watch over a prisoner who isn’t above belting out famous movie lines and flapping around to ‘Kabootar Jaa’.

Filmistaan may start off as a goofy guy’s (amusing) ordeal under confinement but branches out into the obsession with cinema that transcends borders and religion. Until it becomes about religion, but we’ll get there later.

Sunny Arora is quite the entertaining oddball. He’s the guy you’d want regaling guests at parties with his movie references and joie de vivre. However, you would not want him to be doing that all night. Here too, the extended hilarity overstays its welcome.

Sunny has that open expressive face that is itching to perform, an urge that finds release among the rustic children if not under tinsel town’s harsh spotlight. “Arre yaar, tu toh chalta phirta Bombay Talkies hai,” Aftab notes. It is a perfect summation of the character. After a while though, the sincerity and his invoked melodrama appear forced. It does not help that the background score and music (Arijit Dutta) infuse greater sentiment instead of an upbeat comic track as part of the narrative.

There is a reference to an India vs. Pakistan match later in the plot which has no relevance to the overall storyline. It seems like an unnecessary inclusion. Eventually, the film takes a turn from cinema towards religion and the Partition, more so in the second half. The humour gets repetitive and we could have (debatably) done with a subtle romantic track. Those aside, also missing are the reactions of the crew members who should have discovered that Sunny was missing and tried to look for him.

The terrorists hold Sunny hostage, but not once are they seen negotiating with the Indian government for the release of their compatriots. One wonders why the terrorists do not cover their faces while attempting to send a ransom message across the border (the reactions to said ransom message are never revealed).

The conversations about pre-Partition nostalgia may be an overkill in the wake of films like Kya Dilli Kya Lahore and War Chhod Na Yaar. Filmistaan’s climax sets your teeth on edge, not only for being open-ended but also because it places excerpts from Jinnah and Nehru’s speeches after the independence of their respective countries. It looks like the makers are trying too hard.

Despite its flaws that wander into scenes, Filmistaan is offbeat and has its entertaining moments. It is worth a watch for some truly filmy instances and a great ensemble cast that pulls it off. Sharib Hashmi deserves his applause. And for him alone, the film deserves a one-time watch.