Just an attempt to make a situational comedy which becomes a mess as it progresses.

SHAKAL PE MAT JA is a comparatively small film without any known start- cast or hit songs which sincerely tries to entertain the viewer with its situational plot. But unfortunately it remains a try only throughout its over two hours of duration and fails to make the desired impact as earlier seen in TERE BIN LADEN or PHAS GAYE RE OBAMA.

SPMJ starts off well with a fine sequence of Police capturing four young boys shooting with their hand held camera at important high alert points of the city without any kind of official permission. And that is the only plot, around which the script keeps on rotating. The first scene showcasing the hilarious Police Officers interrogating the boys in their typical style raises your expectations a lot. But nothing substantial happens after that and the film proves to be quite monotonous and uninteresting with only few entertaining moments in its later part. Moreover it even becomes too heavy to handle with its prolonged messy climax wherein many sudden characters jump into the script from no-where to contribute nothing.

Co-produced by Hrishitaa Bhatt (of HAASIL fame) and directed by Shubh, who also plays the hero in the film, being the leader of the four friends, SPMJ could have been much better. No doubt the effort put in by team is sincere and appreciable. But the actor-director is not able to bring the same impact on the screen which he may have felt reading it on the paper. Hence all his efforts and sincerity remains a one sided affair since the movie is not able to connect with its audience after its initial 15 minutes. 

Though there are few funny moments and dialogues in this attempted comedy, but the humor mostly goes over the top and becomes repetitive too which is painful to bear after a certain point. Also at many places the direction seems to be pretty ordinary and casual. For instance, Aamna Sharif's make-up is horrible as if she has not slept from days, the Police Officials wear 3 different colors of uniforms which looks silly, the time frame shown on the screen corners at regular intervals means nothing, there is a India-Pakistan match going on with the proceedings which has no connect whatsoever and most importantly I was shocked to see how The Manager of an International Airport was shown by the director as a clerk, wearing a casual shirt and jeans having no sub- ordinates to work for him in his Office.

The film has a catchy title track and an OK cinematography which rarely goes out into the outdoors as per the script. Performance wise Shubh is fine giving the right expressions along with Chitrak, Pratik and the kid. But they could have been a lot more impressive with a better writing. The best performance comes from Saurabh Shukla, who plays the Special Officer, supported well by Raghuvir Yadav as the Inspector. Aamna Sharif is simply there to provide some glamour in an all men script. Mushtaq Khan is fine in his short role but Zakir Hussain is wasted in a very short cameo.

In all, SPMJ just remains an attempt towards making a fine comedy, which can be seen in the comfort of your home and that too when there is nothing coming on TV. But definitely not worth going to the theater.

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