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By Taran Adarsh, July 6, 2007 - 02:00 IST
Assemble the best comedians on one platform, choose a script that gives them scope to display their inherent talent, garnish it with witty one-liners, borrowing names and references from real life to make it look contemporary. Presto, a comic caper is ready to be served!
JOURNEY BOMBAY TO GOA could've been a howlarious ride that starts off in Mumbai and concludes in Goa, but all you carry home are a few amusing sequences and the well-penned, laced-with-wit dialogues.
Problem kya hain? The screenplay. There are points in the narrative that prompt guffaws, chuckles, giggles and chortles, but the narrative is stretched to a point that you get restive and fidgety. Woh isliye, because monotony seeps in after a point. Another area that should've been controlled is its length. The climax especially is reminiscent of the chase in HERA PHERI and PHIR HERA PHERI. Interesting concept, but why go on and on?
In short, JOURNEY BOMBAY TO GOA is aimed at the hoi polloi, the masses, the aam junta and for them, the journey to laughterland may be worth it.
JOURNEY BOMBAY TO GOA is the story is of Lal [Sunil Pal] and Das [Vijay Raaz]. Lal is a dreamer who wants to become big in life and start his own business. Das is a driver, who used to work for a rich businessman, but an irritating boss' nagging habits force him to quit his job.
Lal wins Rs. 2 lacs by winning a contest and the duo plans to set up a business. Das comes up with an idea to start a travel agency. But they don't have enough money. So they go to Chor Bazaar. Using spare parts of old cars and imported cars, they create a bus. The next task is to search the passengers for a ride to Goa.
Lal finally manages to get 15-16 passengers by offering them a discount. But the bus is so tacky that the passengers demand their money back. Das comes up with an idea and states that this is merely a pick-up bus. The journey begins!
One of the passengers [Mac Mohan], who had been abducted but has now escaped, meets with an accident and dies midway. But before he breathes his last, he tells the fellow passengers about the hidden treasure…
With so many comedians around, the writing focuses on hilarious situations and one-liners. The motive is to make you laugh. A few sequences do succeed, a few don't. In an effort to pack just about everything on the shelf, the writer seems to have overlooked the fact that you need to tell your story in the shortest possible time. Sure, a few scenes are well penned, by why stretch the film unnecessarily? It dilutes the impact!
Comedy is serious business and not all storytellers can pull it off. In that respect, director Raj Pendurkar shows a flair for comedy. In fact, he has the potential to make aimed-at-masses entertainers in the future, but a tight script is all he needs to concentrate on. On the music front, there's just one song that stays in your memory -- the title track. Cinematography is okay.
The actors do well in their respective roles, but the ones who register an impression are Raju Shrivastava, Sunil Pal, Vijay Raaz, Sudhir Pandey and Aasif Sheikh. Tinnu Anand, Shakti Kapoor and Asrani don't get much scope. Mac Mohan is alright. Sanjay Mishra goes over the top.
On the whole, JOURNEY BOMBAY TO GOA is a fair attempt that may appeal to those with an appetite for comic capers. At the box-office, the extra-ordinary promotion [quality as well as quantity], especially on television, should attract footfalls at mass-dominated screens and centres.
 
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