Bunty Aur Babli Review

Bunty Aur Babli
Rakesh and Vimmi are determined to leave the small-towns where they grew up, and make it big in the city. But when their plans go wrong, they forge a career as con artist folk heroes.

by William Thomas |
Published on
Release Date:

27 May 2005

Running Time:

169 minutes

Certificate:

PG

Original Title:

Bunty Aur Babli

It's well-nigh impossible to review a Bollywood movie by any rational standard, and this is no exception. The plot - Bonnie-and-Clyde-meets-Robin-Hood - is nonsensical; the tone veers wildly between melodrama, action and broad comedy; emotions are not so much acted as pantomimed; and the song-and-dance numbers call to mind German Eurovision entries circa 1984.

Still, there is fun to be had here. The leads throw themselves into their whiny, lazy characters to occasionally hilarious effect, and their heists and cons are carried out with all the panache of Ocean's however-many. Despite the near-three-hour running time, it's well paced - except for the dance numbers which are interminable. But it remains difficult to take any movie seriously when the lead actor still thinks having a quiff and dancing like Elvis is the height of cool.

There are laughs to be had, but for the most part you're laughing at not with the characters.
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