Review: Pankh

Star cast: Bipasha Basu, Maradona Rebello, Lillete Dubey, Sanjida Sheikh, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ronit Roy, Dayashankar Pandey.

Plot: Maradona is confused about his sexual identity because his mother, Lillete Dubey, had made him work in movies as a girl child. As a grown-up, he is still trying to get over his complexes.

What’s Good: Lillete Dubey’s acting.

What’s Bad: The gross sexual scenes.

Verdict: If the audience had pankh (wings), they’d fly out of the cinemas in no time. That is, if they will care to enter in the first place!

Loo break: Every two minutes.

Next Gen Films, White Feather Arthouse Films and Magicworks’ Pankh (A) is a film about a boy, Jerry (Maradona Rebello), who grows up with a complex because of his pushy mother, Mary (Lillete Dubey). Herself an erstwhile actress, she forces him to act in films since childhood, even making him act as a girl if the need arises. Because of this, his friends tease him, calling him names like chhakka (eunuch).

Jerry grows up to hate himself for what he was made to do as a child in spite of the objections raised by his father (Bharat Kaul) who is now no more. The drama deals with the dilemma Jerry has to go through as an adult for the follies of his mother when he was a child. It is about a young man searching for his true identity.

Sudipto Chattopadhyaya’s script is so abstract that it is doubtful whether the average viewer will understand even half of it. Jerry’s life is in such a mess and he is so depressed that the film leaves a bad taste in the mouth of the audience. Otherwise too, some of the scenes are so bold (like a grown-up Jerry stripping nude in front of his mother in a defiant act) that the family audience would feel repulsed by them.

Bipasha Basu, as someone (Nandini) who exists in Jerry’s mind, does a fair job. She looks sexy. Maradona Rebello acts well in his maiden attempt. Lillete Dubey is first-rate, as always. Mahesh Manjrekar does an able job. Ronit Roy is okay. Dayashankar Pandey shines. Asha Sachdev leaves a mark. Debu- tante Sanjida Sheikh is okay as budding actress Kusum. Newfind Amit Purohit has his moments in the role of Salim. Kiran Karmarkar is good. Bharat Kaul performs ably. Johnny Bakshi is alright. Newcomer Raj Magnani is okay.

Sudipto Chattopadhyaya’s story and screenplay are so unappealing that his direction couldn’t be any better. Raju Singh’s music is functional. Camerawork (Somak Mukherjee) is quite nice. Editing (Sanjib Dutta and Bunty Nagi) is not bad.

On the whole, Pankh will meet with a disastrous fate at the box-office.