Selfiee movie review: Akshay Kumar-Emraan Hashmi film is a stale 90s’ comedy disguised as modern masala flick

Selfiee

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Emraan Hashmi, Nushrratt Bharuccha, Diana Penty, Abhimanyu Singh, Mahesh Thakur, Meghna Malik

Director: Raj Mehta                                         

Where to watch: Theatres

Rating: 2.5 stars

Every once in a while comes a film that has everything – music, drama, action, emotion, and twists – and yet, inexplicably, it misses the mark by a mile. Selfiee is that film. Hours after the first viewing, I am still trying to pin point where exactly the film lost me. It has two actors that can hold the audience, an intriguing concept and decent plot, plenty of mass appeal and masala elements, and fun elements too. Normally, all this would blend to form a delicious, entertaining cocktail. But Selfiee falters and stutters more than it entertains.

The plot of Selfiee is pretty straightforward. Bollywood superstar Vijay Kumar (Akshay Kumar) is in Bhopal to shoot his upcoming film, where the producer asks him to give his driving license copy for a critical climax shoot where he has to drive a car. But Kumar has lost his license and now must apply for a new one. Enter Vijay’s superfan, traffic inspector officer Om Prakash Agarwal (Emraan Hashmi), who agrees to furnish a new license on tatkal basis but has one condition – a selfie with his idol.

When Kumar reaches the RTO for what he thinks is a five-minute-meet with a fan, he finds all the local media there and lashes out at Om Prakash in front of his son. The superfan loses it and berates the star in front of the media. Egos collide and the superstar and common man’s fight becomes fodder for national media.

The film rests on the shoulders of its two leads and their clash. Akshay’s charm and screen presence lend credibility to Vijay Kumar, setting him up as this likable superstar, with a sizable fan base. There are a few meta references to Akshay’s lines, songs, and even his tendency of doing ‘4-6 films and 17 shows a year’. But it all lacks finesse. The jokes fall flat and when they work, it is largely because of Akshay’s immaculate comic timing. The actor tries his best to bring in his best despite a loose script, blending vulnerability with power and humour with ego. He does a decent job but the writing does him no favours.

Emraan Hashmi, on the other hand, is in fine form. The actor gets a role that most artistes would die for, and he makes the most of it. His Om Prakash has an arc that goes from awe-struck fan to hurt father and finally a bitter, egoistical man. The way Emraan manages to carry that arc while keeping Om Prakash likable is applause-worthy. The only thing that irked me in his performance was that his Bhopali accent was inconsistent. In some scenes, it was absent; while in others, quite in your face.

Of the supporting cast, Mahesh Thakur as Vijay Kumar’s secretary has been wasted. For a man of his talents, he needs to get meatier roles. He still manages to do justice to his part here though. Meghna Malik as corporator Vimla Tiwari is a breath of fresh air. Her comic timing and characterisation of a small-time small-town politician were spot on. The real surprise for me was Abhimanyu Singh, slaying it in a comical role. Having seen him as brooding, menacing villains for close to two decades now, it was so refreshing seeing him as a bumbling, struggling actor and self-confessed Vijay Kumar rival. Alas, the leading ladies did not have much to do but Diana Penty still left a mark in her brief performance.

Selfiee is a film that gets caught up in its own hype. Instead of progressing the plot organically, it sets up grand moments of one-upmanship from the two stars, which are designed to elicit whistles from the audience, but end up looking like randomly-connected sequences. There are moments and times when the plot flows smoothly and the film picks up pace but it is soon interrupted by some more showboating.

Selfiee is also a spoof on our TV media and its propesnity to create ‘breaking news’ out of almost anything. However, it is nowhere as sharp and as funny as Bollywood has managed of late. Given just a few months ago, how slickly An Action Hero parodied the media and our news anchors, Selfiee’s take looks quite amateurish. The humour Selfiee dishes out is very 90s in its tone, which makes it feel stale instead of fresh and appealing.

The film tries to entertain but in the safest and most market-friendly way possible. It props up on the shoulders of two likable stars and a decent plot but never dares to give the audience anything new or something they haven’t seen before. Watch it only if you are an Akshay or Emraan fan!