Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video Movie Review

ROFL: Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video (Arriving on a grand scale with its star cast and the comic direction of Raaj Shandilya from Dream Girl) It seemed like a comedy on paper — thanks to talents Rajkummar Rao, Tripti Dimri, Vijay Raaz and Mallika Sherawat making up the cast that looked all set to take us for one hell of a ride. Still, despite a few laughs here and there the final product still feel short of being truly entertaining.

Storyline: A Tired Formula

The movie follows Vicky ( Rajkummar Rao) and Vidya( Tripti Dimri), two mad cute & quirky characters when the scandalous video of them is leaked on to social media and a comedy of errors follows. The narrative unfolds in a small town and will take off from there, showing how this clip sets things into motion that ruins their personal lives, setting off a chain of events including comic misunderstandings, mistaken identities and slapstick hilarity.

The storyline seems reminiscent of the older Bollywood comedy tropes, where chaos drives the narrative as is evident with films such as Masti or Pyaar Ka Punchnama. But where he — OUCH! — okay, let's just stop there. This isn't the wit and sharp satire of those films. Although engaging in the beginning, the story gets predictable. Michalchuk, Wojnarowski and Johnson says the film strides awkwardly between situational comedy and social commentary about the pitfalls of viral fame and yes-social media. This causes the plot to stutter and for the gags themselves to lose some of their potency.

Comedy Punchlines: Success or Failure?

They have trademark witty oneliners and innuendos with the ones from Raaj Shandilya reflecting, but they are inconsistent. There are moments where the punches land effectively, especially when Vijay Raaz gets a great comic timing that adds some freshness to the usual banter. Seth Raaz is a grey if not outright shady, Luv-ish character who gets himself embroiled in the mess/spaghetti that used to be Vicky and Vidya. The humorous aspect is from how flat his delivery is and how he makes the otherwise mundane lines funny.

Rajkummar Rao, who has the knack of playing to comedies his griefs which are dealt with heart, does bring some humor at places but then even he seems being wasted. The lazy writing doesn't provide him with much to do, and the situational humor often fizzles because of limp setups. A struggling actress Mallika Sherawat, making her comeback with Dirty Politics has no legs to stand on in a film that is so based on the old cliché of cracked jokes about her.

Sadly, the comedy too often falls into puerile territory — based around pratfalls and clichéd gags about couples on the skids and fame in this century. The video goes viral, the core pivot of this comedy, is never done justice, and instead the punchlines become painfully stretched out and reused.

Performances: A Mixed Bag

Rajkummar Rao gives a solid performance but, misses out the Rajkumar Rao spark. As always Ayushman Khurrana plays his part with immense charm as Vicky, but the character is so poorly fleshed out that does not allow him to dazzle as much as we are used to see him do. Rao, however, can do only so much to carve out a role that does not explore the depth and breadth of his acting prowess.

Tripti Dimri, playing Vidya, gives a feisty performance and she shares great chemistry with Rao. That said, Dimri too is trapped in a script that doesn't exactly open possibilities for her to stretch what the character were capable of. She is supposed to be the rational one amongst all this insanity, but more than often, she becomes just another piece reacting to the madness.

Vijay Raaz, who constantly shines in his scenes and amusingly sober-to-serious transitions. His comedic timing is so natural, and he brings a great presence to every scene he is in (even during some of the film's weaker moments).

Mallika Sherawat's acting is okay and quite forgettable. A then-comic return to the screen does not do much for the film, and she just seems ill-suited in a movie that needed better performances to carry its humor.

Director is  inconsistent in direction and execution.

In a tale where Raaj Shandilya should be whipping up comedy faster than pizzas on an oven, Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video appears bumpy in its tone. The film elicits laughs in some sequences but it often veers off a sense of continuity and give the impression that Jo had difficulty deciding whether he wanted to carve out a social satire or just let frivolity reign, finally dooming the film somewhere in between. The tempo lags in the second half, as well, taking a long walk up to an unfulfilling climax.

While some people may appreciate the physical humor and crude jokes of the film, in a space where comedy films are becoming more well-rounded, it seems like old hat. While there are points where the movie could delve into those darker, more interesting depths of viral culture, it opts for old gags that have been around forever.

In Conclusion not as bad as some would say. Fine Yes, but with a bit of time and effort it could be good.

Film touches grand and returns  with able performances by the talented cast specially Vijay Raaz and Rajkummar Rao, but let down by the shoddy script and routine story-line, The comedy, meanwhile amusingly silly at times, is rarely sharp or biting and the performances are hamstrung by just how thin most of these characters actually seem.

The film, which rides on the preposterous notion of viral culture converging with today's dysfunctional relationship model, plays as if it was made years ago and completely out of tune with what passes for contemporary comedy. Although it does evoke some laughter and slapstick humour for its fans, Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video becomes forgettable. It's one of those movies that had something going for it but unfortunately falls short.

Rating: 2.5/5