Movie
One Two Three
Director
Ashwani Dheer
Producer
Kumar Mangat
Music
Raghav Sachar
Cast
Sunil Shetty, Tusshar Kapoor, Sameera Reddy, Neetu Chandra
You’ve seen films with hip, classy proms promising you the same quality through the three hours in the theatre, only to be met with biting disappointment; 123 is exactly the opposite. The tacky promos on TV make you expect another no-brainer comedy with dead jokes, but this film surprises you with its originality and wit.
The film’s writing tries to marry the lowest denominator-catering comedy with the more refined humour, which is why perhaps no one will be entirely unhappy with the film. Add to that some spirited performances and you have a decent watch.
Three protagonists, apart as chalk, cheese and chana, share the same name – Laxmi Narayan. One is an aspiring supari killer (Tusshar Kapoor), another a small-time businessman dealing in undergarments (Paresh Rawal, marvelous) and yet another is a gentlemanly executive (Sunil Shetty, surprisingly adept) who’s all out to please his dominating boss.
Jia (Esha Deol) is an undergarments designer who needs the cash bad to save her late father’s hotel from being taken over. Laila (Sameera Reddy) runs a used-cars showroom and then there’s Chandni (Tanisha Mukherjee) who works in Laila’s workshop along with boyfriend Chandu (Upen Patel).
There’s also a priceless diamond that everyone’s after and underworld kingpin Bhai (Manoj Pahwa reveling in some fantastic one-liners) sends Laxmi Narayan (Kapoor) to bump off a hilarious don D’Mello (Mukesh Tiwari) for the diamond. A lady cop (Neetu Chandra) doing a Haryanavi accent adds to the fun; identities get crisscrossed and sweet confusion maintains over next few sequences.
Note the humour high-points – wannabe supari killer Laxmi Narayan’s aged mother in typical Hindi Mom style yearns for her son to “settle in life” and prays he gets his first murder soon so his career is set before she dies. Then there’s the scene where D`Mello wants Laxmi Narayan (Sunil Shetty) to tease a woman to create a diversion. He suggests he go up to a lady and ask – `Aati Kya’. But compelled by his good manners Laxmi wants to say `Aati Kya…err…Ma’am?’ Out of excess politeness, he’s used to asking too many questions (should I sit on the chair or sofa; the left or the right one?) that he’s branded `question paper’ by D` Mello’s henchmen. The film is dotted with other witty one-liners galore that pop up at the impossibly funny circumstances.
Yes, some dialogues are extremely offensive and should have been done away with. But by and large, thanks to reasonably intelligent writing and endearing performances, you tend to grit your teeth and sit through them to enjoy the better humour. For example, the premise of an avuncular man selling men and women’s inners has the potential for unlimited lewd and risqué jokes, and one cannot imagine the level of insanity another writer would have taken this. But here, thankfully, the lines here are teasing and often sweet.
Disappointingly, the drone of gay-bashing continues in this film with the standard – `Main Vaisa Nahin Hoon’ line repeated all the time. One did expect more subtle comedy from Ashwani Dheer (Office Office), but it’s obvious that commercial compulsions have won the battle many times in the script here.
Oddly, the technical aspect of One Two Three is abysmal, dating back to a decade or more. The first song that begins the story is shockingly tacky and unimaginative. Ditto goes for production value all over. Another grouse is the hurriedly wrapped up and abrupt ending, that could have been more interesting.
Songs are immensely enjoyable, even the forcibly insinuated Gotta Rock Mahiya and the title song One Two Three. Music by Raghav Sachar is above average and lyrics by Aditya Dhar and Munna Dhiman are excellent. Cinematography ranges from the unbearable, where several shots are out of focus, to just about ok.
The cast is the sparkler here – Paresh Rawal is supremely funny and carries off, what could have been a very offensive character, as an endearing one. Sunil Shetty is fabulous and this is, possibly, his most spirited performance so far.
Esha as the Tamil-spouting hotel owner is fantastic as is Sameera as the loan EMI bunking showroom owner. Even Neetu Chandra as the feisty cop is entertaining. Mercifully, unlike most mainstream comedies, here, the women characters are treated with relative respect and you can see the actors revel in their interestingly written roles. Manoj Pahwa, Sanjay Mishra, Vrijesh Hirjee, Mukesh Tiwari are all at their comedic best.
This is multi-award winning serial Office Office writer Ashwani Dheer’s directorial debut and he does fairly well. Don’t expect a comedy of the level of Office Office and you won’t be disappointed. One Two Three is a fun ride, with some dips and some highs.
Verdict: 2 stars out of five
Review Report:One Two Three
