Movie Review: Khichdi 2 Mission Paanthukistan
Cast: Supriya Pathak Kapur, Rajeev Mehta, Anang Desai, Vandana Pathak and Jamnadas Majethia.
Director: Aatish Kapadia
Rating: 5/10
FAKIR HASSEN
AT THE turn of this century, the madcap capers of the Parekh family of three generations, in the series Kichdi, were a hit on Indian channel Star TV, with the endless one-liners by the cast. It led to a movie with the same title in 2010.
This big screen sequel is no different, as the characters mouth non-stop one-liners and engage in zany explanations of what some English words mean. Many of the jokes are schoolboy-type ones but, at times, there are also some funny original ones.
Director Aatish Kapadia must have had a difficult time keeping up with the fun that the cast, especially veterans Supriya Pathak and Anang Desai, clearly had while making the film.
There is also a special appearance by almost-retired ace choreographer Farha Khan. She tries to train the family to pretend to be making a film on the despotic king of Paanthuukistan to kidnap him, because a member of the family looks just like him.
The family is hired by the Thodi Intelligent Agency. Translating as “Little Bit of Intelligence Agency”, this should give the most obvious clue about how the mission ends.
Supriya steals the show.
The absurd comedy, with its improbabilities at times, can be watched only if you leave your brains at home and go for some crazy laughs.
Fakir Hassen is a veteran Bollywood writer and critic