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Cast: Supriya Pathak, Anang Desai, Rajeev Mehta, Girish Sahdev, Nimisha Vakharia and Jamnadas Majethia
Fox Star Studios and Hats Off Productions’ Khichdi The Movie is an experimental film as it has been made by borrowing the characters of a hugely popular comedy TV serial, ‘Khichdi’. A new story and screenplay have been woven around the funny characters of the television serial. The characters behave in the same way as they do in the serial and they also have the same mannerisms.
Babuji (Anang Desai) lives with his family in a large house. Himanshu (Jamnadas Majethia) is the brother of Babuji’s daughter-in-law, Hansa (Supriya Pathak), and brother-in-law of Babuji’s son, Praful (Rajeev Mehta). Hansa and Himanshu lose their father who, before dying, asks Babuji to fulfil his son, Himanshu’s wish. It turns out that Himanshu wishes to get married and he wants his love story to be memorable.
Babuji and his other daughter-in-law, Jayshree (Nimisha Vakharia), finalise Himanshu’s marriage with their neighbour, Parminder. However, just before the marriage can be solemnised, Jayshree remembers Himanshu’s wish to make his love story memorable. In a bid to do so, the family does crazy things to ensure that the marriage is called off by the girl’s family so that Himanshu can then elope with Parminder, thereby ensuring that his love story would become memorable. But in the process, Himanshu is charged with murder. What happens thereafter is revealed in the climax.
The problems with the film are too many. Firstly, the story (Aatish Kapadia) is thin and childish, more suited for a TV serial rather than a film. The screenplay (Aatish Kapadia) is no different from that written for the serial as a result of which, fans of the serial will not find the film to be much different from the serial they may have already seen. As for those who haven’t been fans of the TV serial, they will find the drama too silly and forced to be taken seriously. Besides, not many among the public would want to pay to watch characters they’ve been used to seeing for free, that too, in a film which is hardly different from the unpaid for stuff they may have seen on TV.
Because the screenplay consists of episodes and anecdotes written with the sole purpose of raising laughter, they actually fail to do so as they are far from free-flowing. The comedy, therefore, hardly evokes laughter. As for drama, there is very little of it in the film. Emotions are conspicuous by their absence. Similarly, although the film is a love story, romance is almost completely missing. With so much emphasis laid on comedy, which, in any case, is hardly funny, the film becomes a boring fare for the viewer. Aatish Kapadia has failed to appreciate that comedy in films has to be very different from comedy in TV serials.
Performances of the artistes are all fine because they are good actors who have been accepted in the TV serial, in the roles they play in the film. Supriya Pathak shines as Hansa. Anang Desai is endearing as Babuji. Rajeev Mehta leaves a mark in the role of Praful. Nimisha Vakharia gets into the skin of the character of Jayshree. Jamnadas Majethia is good in the role of Himanshu, but he looks too old to play the hero. Satish Shah, Farah Khan, Deven Bhojani, Paresh Ganatra and Aatish Kapadia, all in friendly/special appearances, acquit themselves creditably. Newfind Kirti Kulhari, Girish Sahdev, Kesar Majethia, Markand Soni and the others lend adequate support.
Aatish Kapadia’s direction, like his script, is more suited for the small screen. Raju Singh’s music and Aatish Kapadia’s lyrics are more functional than anything else. Cinematography (Sanjay Jadhav) and editing (Hemal Kothari) are okay.
On the whole, Khichdi The Movie is an experiment gone terribly wrong. Unlike the television serial on which it is based, the film will be forgotten in no time. A poor show!
