Lollypop, strangely, has always been a filmmaker’s, favourite resort to corny and not so funny comedy. But, surprise, surprise, it is the lollypop in Mr Joe B Carvalho, which makes the most interesting debut at its slurpy best. All thanks to Javed Jaffrey and the writing by Mahesh Ramchandani. However, too soon, the humour goes dry and so does the film.
The premise holds some promise in the characters. The talented but unrecognized Arshad Warsi as a failure of a detective who loves his blind mom; the petite and charming Soha Ali Khan as a ‘dabangg’ cop who looks equally hot in a police uniform as well as a blue itsy bitsy bikini; and Javed Jaffery who is on a killing spree, dressed in a saree and a lollipop in his mouth.
The film, however, does not live up to its promise of comical detective caper. The story starts off well but goes into predictable zones, killing every effort at entertainment.
Joe Carvalho (Arshad) is hired by a rich dad (Shakti Kapoor) to follow his daughter who has apparently run away with an old bawarchi. Meanwhile, a killer, Carlos (Javed) is also hired by a jilted lover, to kill the daughter. Soha, the cop, is on a mission to catch Carlos. A comedy of errors follows as everyone mistakes Carvalho for Carlos. Caught between Soha’s furious gun (they also have a past together), Carlos’s knives and another bunch of goons, Carvalho ends up lost in his quest for the missing bride to be.
The characters with their quirks, extremely well played by each, could have been sufficient to drive the screenplay. But the cheesy lines simply fall flat at times, taking away the situational humour. Lines like “maut, potty aur Carlos kahin bhi aur kabhi bhi aa sakte hain” and such attempts at forced humour fail to provide any laughter.
Despite the flaws, there are a few upsides in the most unlikely areas, mainly Javed’s characterization. Javed’s lollypop has an interesting variation. He portrays a hilarious schizophrenic who has mental conversations with his mom, ‘Lolly’, and dad, ‘Pop’. ‘Lolly’ and ‘Pop’ keep having small, funny arguments in Javed’s mind, which he enacts with wonderful perfection.
If Javed’s acting takes the lollypop, it is the lyrics that take the cake in trite humour. Two songs in particular are actually fun in their silliness: Virag Misra’s “...Ringa Ringa Roses….” and Amitabh Bhattacharya’s lyrics in “Chumma Chaati …I love Saiyaan ji ki late night party... I hate, hate ...hate, hate Chumma Chaati.” (Watch out for Soha dressed in a cute number, doing a cabaret).
Debutante, Samir Tewari displays a fair amount of potential as director even though he fails to entertain in this film. Vijay Raaz could have been utilized better in his role. Himani Shivpuri and Ranjit are at their hamming best.
Arshad as always is charming in his over sincerity. Incidentally, his excellent dancing skills are also on display. After all, he started his career as dancer and choreographer way back in the 90s.
Javed Jaffrey is more than one up on his dad, Jagdeep’s comedy and timing. Soha Ali Khan is simply delightful in her bold new avatar of having fun beating up goons, turning into a cabaret dancer and smoothly slipping into a bikini.
Boring in most parts, watch the film only for Javed Jaffrey’s mono act involving ‘lolly’ and ‘pop’ and Soha Ali in electric blue bikini.
The premise holds some promise in the characters. The talented but unrecognized Arshad Warsi as a failure of a detective who loves his blind mom; the petite and charming Soha Ali Khan as a ‘dabangg’ cop who looks equally hot in a police uniform as well as a blue itsy bitsy bikini; and Javed Jaffery who is on a killing spree, dressed in a saree and a lollipop in his mouth.
The film, however, does not live up to its promise of comical detective caper. The story starts off well but goes into predictable zones, killing every effort at entertainment.
Joe Carvalho (Arshad) is hired by a rich dad (Shakti Kapoor) to follow his daughter who has apparently run away with an old bawarchi. Meanwhile, a killer, Carlos (Javed) is also hired by a jilted lover, to kill the daughter. Soha, the cop, is on a mission to catch Carlos. A comedy of errors follows as everyone mistakes Carvalho for Carlos. Caught between Soha’s furious gun (they also have a past together), Carlos’s knives and another bunch of goons, Carvalho ends up lost in his quest for the missing bride to be.
The characters with their quirks, extremely well played by each, could have been sufficient to drive the screenplay. But the cheesy lines simply fall flat at times, taking away the situational humour. Lines like “maut, potty aur Carlos kahin bhi aur kabhi bhi aa sakte hain” and such attempts at forced humour fail to provide any laughter.
Despite the flaws, there are a few upsides in the most unlikely areas, mainly Javed’s characterization. Javed’s lollypop has an interesting variation. He portrays a hilarious schizophrenic who has mental conversations with his mom, ‘Lolly’, and dad, ‘Pop’. ‘Lolly’ and ‘Pop’ keep having small, funny arguments in Javed’s mind, which he enacts with wonderful perfection.
If Javed’s acting takes the lollypop, it is the lyrics that take the cake in trite humour. Two songs in particular are actually fun in their silliness: Virag Misra’s “...Ringa Ringa Roses….” and Amitabh Bhattacharya’s lyrics in “Chumma Chaati …I love Saiyaan ji ki late night party... I hate, hate ...hate, hate Chumma Chaati.” (Watch out for Soha dressed in a cute number, doing a cabaret).
Debutante, Samir Tewari displays a fair amount of potential as director even though he fails to entertain in this film. Vijay Raaz could have been utilized better in his role. Himani Shivpuri and Ranjit are at their hamming best.
Arshad as always is charming in his over sincerity. Incidentally, his excellent dancing skills are also on display. After all, he started his career as dancer and choreographer way back in the 90s.
Javed Jaffrey is more than one up on his dad, Jagdeep’s comedy and timing. Soha Ali Khan is simply delightful in her bold new avatar of having fun beating up goons, turning into a cabaret dancer and smoothly slipping into a bikini.
Boring in most parts, watch the film only for Javed Jaffrey’s mono act involving ‘lolly’ and ‘pop’ and Soha Ali in electric blue bikini.
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