MoviemagiK reviews SUNDAY (Hindi)

SUNDAY

Cast: Ajay Devgan, Irfaan Khan, Arshad Warsi, Mukesh Tiwari, Ayesha Thakia, Anjana

Directed by Rohit Shetty

Director Rohit Shetty is here with his next offering after the runaway success of Golmaal. Ofcourse there is Golmaal Returns later this year, but another quickie before that.

Like Golmaal, this is no original either. For Sunday is the remake of the Telegu film Anukokunda Oka Roju. Keeping the darkness totally out of it, and focussing on the lighter moments, and repackaging it as a comic suspense thriller, Shetty hopes to strike the box office. And since comedy is the selling point these days at the box office, the makers are going in full swing to promote it as a silly comic caper, keeping the suspense factor totally out of the equation. So my advise is do not expect an out and out comedy like Golmaal.

Anyways, what is the film about?

Sehar (ayesha Thakia) seems to have a normal chirpy life , working as a dubbing artist. However one day she realises that nothing is as normal as it was before. She simply cannot remember what happened on a particular Sunday. All she knows is that she hasnow strangers running after her and claiming several things.

And in steps ACP Rajveer (Ajay Devgan) munching his ice cream cones, trying to get to the bottom of all this. After all he has to help out his fiance while the clues begin to stack against her. Rajveer is still certain that the crime has nothing to do with Sehar. It could be the taxi driver Ballu (Arshad Warsi) and his wannabe actor friend Kumar (Irfan Khan) or even Sehar's freind Ritu (Anjana Sukhani).

After all it is only a matter of time as we find out what happened that Sunday!

Lazy , i say because this is a weak exercise in movie making. No one seems to be really there to give it a shot. The screenplay is so weak, and so is the script. The makers certainly did have a creative set up but the lack of a clever script or an impressive screenplay meant that they just failed to get it all together and keep the viewers on the edge of their seats. Surely when they have lifted it from another film, they could have atleast tried tweaking on the original and come up with something much better and refined.

What instead we have is some people trying to do what they call 'comedy' and push it down your throat with a suspense that we are least interested in. As a viewer one does not connect with any of the characters and therefore the film limps towards a finale that is anything but exciting.

Ajay Devgan is just passing by on this lazy Sunday and does not exactly leave a mark. He just spent most of the screentime playing cool and covering his tired baggy eyes with those shades. Arshad Warsi also could have easily avoided this outing as it does nothing for him on any level. Ayesha Thakia manages to get some attention with the script making her the center of gravity. Not that it demanded a lot from her.

However if any one impresses, then it is the non-stars. Irfan Khan as the silly actor wannabe manages to make even silly lines sound like winners with a dead pan act that surprisingly plays out well enough in the bigger picture. Equally impressive was Mukesh Tiwari as the cop in one of the few comic outings.

But the script is hardly there, various characters are thrown in for no major reason and many of them just turn annoying as we go along. Two major songs with Tushhar and Eesha Deol were could be highlights and could have turned out effective if there was actually a hit soundtrack on hand. However inspite of roping in nearly six composers in the form of Sandeep Chowta, Shibani Kashyap, Daler Mehendi, Raghav Sachar, Band Suroor, and Amar Mohile, it is just disappointing that the soundtrack is still left wanting.

The real silver lining is that director Roheit Shetty might not be ace when it comes to scripting or directing. But what he has talent is for action sequences. And he indulges into them with such a glee and confidence, that it clearly shows. Being the son of a stunt director, he adds a punch to his action sequences and surely an action film would come out great in his hands. But the success of comedy genre has taken him into a totally different side.

Even the editing is noteworthy cleverly employing split screens and overlapping to keep the flow between scenes and time frames. However it sticks out sorely in this flick that is played out with a stronger comic tone. Things would have worked out better then if the film was a laugh riot. But all it offers is a few chuckles here and there.

Therefore on the final count, the movie fails in all the genres- it fails to raise the laughs, does not bring out the suspense, and nowhere an edge of the seat thriller either.

Sunday simply fails to impress and staying away from this one would instead guarantee you a nice weekend!

MoviemagiK rates it 2 outta 5

Critics Rating: 2.70/ 5

Taran Adarsh believes that it is a well made entertainer with a potential to click with the moviegoers 3.5/5- IndiaFM

HAVE patience and you might just begin to have a ball with this quirky little thriller. -3/5 TimesofIndia

Sunday entertains as long as it tries to be funny but isn't sly enough to find a mention in the archive of whodunits. 2.5/5 Rediff

amnesia will strike the minute you leave the cinema. That's one missing Friday in the life of everybody who bought a ticket to this movie. 2.5/5 Hindustantimes

it's a just-about tolerable watch for those with high patience levels 2/5 IBNLIVE