Rating: (Two stars)
Advertisement
Star cast: Pulkit Samrat, Amita Pathak.
Advertisement
What’s Bad:The script which meanders mindlessly; the slow pace of the drama; the lack of heart-touching emotions.
Verdict: Bittoo Boss is a half-baked fare at best. It will do ordinary business at the box-office.
Loo break: A couple, especially in the climax.
Watch or Not?: Watch Bittoo Boss if you want to see a debut making director’s honest effort. But do not expect to be entertained a lot.
User rating:
Wide Frame Pictures and Viacom 18 Motion Pictures’ Bittoo Boss is about a wedding videographer, Bittoo (Pulkit Samrat), who is very good at making people happy by shooting heart-warming wedding videos. Bittoo stays in a small town in Punjab.
At a wedding, Bittoo falls for Mrinalini (Amita Pathak), one of the girls attending the wedding. After the wedding, Bittoo pursues Mrinalini and the two spend some time together. One day, when Bittoo lands up at her house unannounced, Mrinalini thinks he is stalking her and she insults him.
Hurt as hell, Bittoo goes away. But as soon as she realises her mistake, Mrinalini tries to make up for it by taking Bittoo to the office of a local TV station in order to help him get a job there. When Bittoo is mocked at by the TV channel head, and he walks out of the office, Bittoo and Mrinalini have a heated argument. Mrinalini asks Bittoo to prove his worth by making loads of money.
In order to make a quick buck, Bittoo decides to try out the idea of his editor, Vermaji (Rajender Sethi), who had been pushing him to shoot and sell blue films. Next, Bittoo travels to Shimla where he teams up with a driver and installs hidden cameras inside hotel rooms.
Is Bittoo able to shoot blue films and make a lot of money? Is he able to convince Mrinalini of his worth? Does Mrinalini fall in love with Bittoo? What about the fact that Bittoo is doing an immoral and illegal act by shooting pornographic videos? The rest of the film answers these questions.
Supavitra Babul’s story has the potential for light moments as well and intense drama. However, the screenplay, penned by Supavitra Babul and Gautam Mehra, is half-baked. Whereas the first half of the post-interval portion – where Bittoo makes repeated failed attempts to secretly shoot a blue film – brings a smile to the viewer’s lips, the first half and the climax pale in comparison. In spite of the running time of the film being less than two hours, the viewer often gets bored because of the slow pace of the narrative. The biggest drawback, perhaps, is the absence of a smooth flowing narrative.
Moreover, several questions remain unanswered in the audience’s minds. Why does Mrinalini, who, it seems, has come to like Bittoo a lot, insist on having him insulted? Why does Bittoo, who is otherwise a very good person, agree to shoot a porn film when he had refused the idea for the longest time?
Even if one overlooks these questions, the fact remains that several crucial scenes in the drama – like the argument between Mrinalini and Bittoo – just don’t work for the audience. As such, all that follows later seems like a farce. The climax is unbelievable and unconvincing. The best part of the film, in fact, is the camaraderie between Bittoo and his driver-assistant in Shimla.
The dialogues, penned by Gautam Mehra, are good at several places and average at others.
Pulkit Samrat makes a confident debut. His performance as a well-meaning videographer is completely believable. Amita Pathak gets limited scope but she does well. The actor playing Bittoo’s driver-assistant is fabulous. Rajender Sethi and Mohan Kapoor get limited scope. The rest of the cast offers good support.
Director Supavitra Babul is let down by the shortcomings of his script. As a result, he fails in holding the audience’s attention throughout the drama. But his conception of the post-interval portion shows that he can do better. Raghav Sachar’s music is alright but the movie needed hit songs. Kumaar’s lyrics are fine. Amar Mohile’s background score goes with the mood of the film. Sunil Jaiswal’s art direction is appropriate. Manish Bhatt’s cinematography is good. Editing, by Abhishek Seth, is sharp.
On the whole, Bittoo Boss is an earnest effort but it disappoints because of the half-baked script.
Advertisement
