Khatta Meetha Review

 What is it all about?

After the innovative `Tere Bin Laden' by a newbie, here comes the promised one by the proud committee members of Bollywood laughter's, the reliable Priyadarshan and the dependable superstar Akshay who recently made the theatres go `Housefull' but alas, this contract of Bollywood laughter by the duo who tickled our funny bones with `Hera Pheri', `Bhool Bhulaiya' etc comes with a low tar construction on the Bollywood entertainment road that hovers around mediocrity where Akshay and a couple of gags are the only lasting impression making the viewer feel that he is not been funningly absorbed enough.

The `corrupt' mediocrity and lack of innovations in this Shree Ashtavinayak Cinevision venture in association with Akshay's Hari Om Entertainment Co in helming `contract' with the erstwhile entertaining Priyadarshan construct a laughter road that's low tar in its entertainment quotient.

The Story.. Of course

Struggling road construction contractor, Sachin Tichkule (Akshay Kumar) is doomed to dream big.

There is no chance in hell that his dreams will ever come true, simply because he has no money to bribe.

To make Matters worse, the new municipal commissioner turns out to be his ex girl friend (Trisha) who now hates him.

Sachin bubbles his way from one disaster to another, the film reveals tries in vain to reveal the extent of corruption and bribery rampant in the system but fails.

What to look out for?

We don't expect Akshay and Priyadarshan to push the envelope for us and we are prepared for some buffoonery and it comes in patches, `Khatta Meetha' delivers some laughs, and there are a couple of instances when the erstwhile prolific Priyadarshan sinks his teeth into a worthwhile concept. For example, entire road roller sequence that ends up in the road roller dashing in to the Municipal commissioners house, and the sequence at the baniya's shop where there's confusion all around are funny and slickly written though it defies any logic.

The acting is solid. Akshay seems to be enjoying his comedies and as Sachin Tichkule he is fantastic. Rajpal Yadav is in top form, special notice should be made of Makrand Deshpande, Neeraj Vora, Asrani, Manoj Joshi, Tinu Anand and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. Urvashi Sharma as the simple caring sister impresses in her deglam avatar; Johny Lever appears in one scene and steals the show.

Technically smart with excellent production values.

What not?

Unfortunately, the high points don't stick as the movie swings its genre from a funny take on corruption to seriousness with the death of Urvashi Sharma which makes the movie sloppy in its attempt to please all and play safe that fails to push the material hard enough.

A fun movie on corruption demands some punch and unfortunately there's nothing like that in `Khatta Meetha'

The lead actress Trisha Krishnan seems to be out-of-place in this flick. Milind Gunaji and Aruna Irani are wasted.

Music by Preetam is a major letdown and hurdle while one is watching the film.

Conclusion: `Khatta Meetha' is a promise that fails to deliver up to its potential, only for die hard Akshay fans who religiously watch his every release.

Rating **