Movie review: Watch 'Nautanki Saala' For The Gags Only

While director Rohan Sippy was shooting Nautanki Saala, his unit’s cars were vandalized by MNS workers. Photos circulated on Twitter of cars with smashed windshields. One of the cars was Ayushmann Khurrana’s. This could have been a sob story but instead of milking it for sympathy, Sippy turned the incident into a running joke in Nautanki Saala. Khurrana plays an actor called RP whose car is the victim of some violence during the course of the film. The last scene of Nautanki Saala – no, this isn’t really a spoiler – shows Kunaal Roy Kapoor wearing a costume that makes him look like the love child of Vanilla Ice and one of the lions from Madagascar and smashing the windshield of RP’s car with a gada. Touché.

Nautanki Saala is about the relationship between successful actor RP (Khurrana) and a suicidal good-for-nothing named Mandar (played by Kunaal Roy Kapoor). RP comes across Mandar when the latter is trying to hang himself. For some reason, because RP stops Mandar from killing himself, the two become BFFs. RP’s girlfriend is puzzled about why RP is treating Mandar like he’s RP’s jigad ka tukda, and she isn’t alone. There’s no plausible explanation for why RP lets Mandar stay with him, does whatever Mandar asks him to, pays thousands of rupees taking care of Mandar and even goes so far as to risk his career as an actor and director by casting the singularly talentless Mandar in a crucial role in RP’s play.

But logic isn’t the reason to watch Nautanki Saala because very little in the film possesses even the most tenuous connection to reality. RP’s play is unlike any theatrical venture you’ll see at, say, Prithvi Theatre. The Mumbai of the film is also the stuff of fantasy – RP, a theatre actor, lives in the poshest belly of SoBo and has a view of the Taj from his balcony. The relationships make even less sense. Why is RP so attached to Mandar? Why does he woo Mandar’s ex-girlfriend? And there’s really no logic – emotional or practical – to explain how anyone would fall in love with Nandini (Pooja Salvi).

Nautanki Saala’s weakest link is the writing. The script is an adaptation of the French film, Apres Vous, so perhaps we can lay the blame of a rambling plot, incoherent characterisations and absence of causality on the French doorstep. What makes Nautanki Saala fun despite all this are the gags, particularly in the second half of the film. From in-your-face humour – RP, er, rubbing ointment on Mandar’s bottom, for example – to subtler comedy, Nautanki Saala has a range to satisfy all kinds of audiences. The dialogues are witty and there are some delightfully funny scenes. A few of the minor characters give a better performance than listed actors, like the random stranger that RP has to befriend at a restaurant because he’s trying to cover up a lie to his girlfriend.

The film is powered by superb acting by Roy Kapoor and Khurrana. The two of them together – like in the scene where Mandar auditions for one of the leads in RP’s play – are one of the most enjoyable duos we’ve seen in a while. Khurrana’s boy-next-door charm makes you root for him despite how haphazardly his character is written and there’s no forgetting the sight of Roy Kapoor as Hanuman.

Despite being pulled down by abysmal acting by its women actors and a weak script, Nautanki Saala scores thanks to its male leads and an excellent soundtrack. The “Dhak Dhak” remix isn’t particularly memorable, but most of the other songs in the soundtrack will make you want to get hold of the album.