FUGLY is not the standard Bollywoodish fare that looks at life through rose-tinted glasses. Unlike films of its ilk, which tend to get dark, gory and predictable after a point, Kabir Sadanand smartly uses sub-plots and characters so that the film doesn't steer into the foreseeable zone. In addition, Kabir invests in drama and the emotional bond amongst friends to make the proceedings captivating, but at the same time, makes the road back from hell compelling and lifelike.
Although not an inherent flaw, there is another thing which could irritate a section of the youth audience: the film has been promoted as a fun, happy and youthful drama – and this, right from the young feel of the title, in slang English, to the songs to the trailers etc. – but what the film actually is is a very serious issue-based drama. On the whole, Fugly is a disappointing and an ordinary fare with very little entertainment value. It has some chance in the big cities only because of the youthful appeal of its title and music. Its low budget is its biggest plus point.
If positive intent were enough to help a youth-centric movie pass muster, then Fugly could, at a stretch, be regarded as passably decent two-and-a-quarter hours of entertainment. But marred by pedestrian and confused execution, the film makes more noise than sense. It is not as if the members of the cast seek to pass off raving and ranting as acting. It is the ear-splitting background score that gets one's goat. Fugly simply can't help it.
For film critics, movies like Fugly is nothing less than traumatic. A bunch of haywire newbies find themselves lost in a plot that is ridiculous and lame which kills you by the end. If by God's grace you survive the slang talk and sleaze show, the climax murders you. In a typical Rang De Basanti weds Highway climax done in all seriousness, there is no scope to laugh at it either. It is a plain, flat and bad film that must be avoided under every circumstance.
With a clincher of a curtain-raiser, we thought Kabir might just spring a surprise. But alas, it was not to be. He, with the (incompetent) backing from writer Rahul Handa, attempts the impossible: to revive the patriotism that 'Rang De Basanti' (RDB) flourished on through his frames.That none of it makes sense doesn't really bother us, because that's the least of the troubles with Kabir's attempt at a "thriller". The outcome is preposterous. With so much going against it, we'd say; "Don't get fugly-ed".