Madgaon Express ( Comedy/ 2024/ Cinema Release)
Wrier / Director – Kunal Khemu
Cast- Divyendu, Pratik Gandhi, Avinash Tiwary, Chhaya Kadam, Nora Fatehi, Upendra Limaye
Strangely , the post covid world has divided the audience into different categories with a varied range of sensibility and palate for cinema. And that’s the reason I have often observed vastly varying reactions to the same film.
You’ll find a certain film hugely lauded and at the same time bashed up by different sections.
Madgaon Express is bound to fall in a similar category. While I found audience laughing their hearts out, personally speaking, I wasn’t too impressed.
Kunal Khemu marks his debut with a genre that he has excelled at as an actor , the Go Goa Gone, Golmaal and the Lootcase types.
This slapstick comedy has three friends ,on their maiden visit to Goa, get into a sticky situation when one of their bags gets exchanged at the railway station. Prateek Gandhi, Avinash Tiwary and Divyendu make for a cute trio falling prey to one outrageous situation after the other. Making their life difficult are Chhaya Kadam and Upendra Limaye as gangsters.
While I have absolutely no qualms about over the top situations and comedy , there’s something about the narrative which just about managed to amuse me for the major part. I wanted to laugh out aloud, just like the audience around me, but alas. What kept me invested though, were the cute earnest performances and the dialogues. Thankfully for me, the film did redeem itself in the last thirty minutes.There was action, there was some intrigue ( though guessable easily) and there was hilarious over-the-top situational comedy. I am glad that I was finally bestowed with many chuckles towards the end. The climax was absolutely fantastic and like icing on the cake, there was this amazing groovy banger number with post credits ( music by Ajay-Atul and I guess choreography by Remo D’Souza, who by the way has given a dashing cameo in the film.
Speaking of performances, the entire cast does deserves credit for the film.
Divyendu in a role quite similar to his earlier ones, plays this unapologetic liar and lazy loser with unfulfilled aspirations who falls prey to the lure of the fake world created by social media. To its credit, I think the film makes a tongue in cheek jibe at social media’s fakeness and also about judgemental lure around Goa.
Pratik Gandhi too repeats himself as the gujju boy.
Despite the repetitive roles, as I said before,the earnestness of their performances makes them cute and adorable.
Avinash does a refreshingly different role as the smart and quiet New York returned. He looks great.
Chhaya Kadam ,is awesomely rocking as the badass gangster. In a vastly different role from Laapata Ladies, she steals the show here, just as she did there too.
Upendra Limaye and Nora Fatehi lend good support.
The songs, except for the last one in post credits, are forgettable.But “ Bring It On” should make it to the banger charts.
So folks, can’t really say whether or not I should recommend the film . Not cancelling the film just because I didn’t find it hilarious enough. Maybe you do. Would totally depend upon your palate in comedy.
BHAVNA TALKIES 