Raja Natwarlal, Hindi Bollywood Film movie review, Johnson Thomas, Rating: * *

Raja Natwarlal, Hindi Bollywood Film movie review, Johnson Thomas, Rating: *  *

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#RajaNatwarlal(Hindi) Rating: * *   A ‘Sting’ on a con, this Natwarlal has illogic written all over it until the explanatory ending which is it’s only saving grace! #EmraanHashmi does a rehash of his countless tapori kiss’em roles while #PareshRawal reprises his ‘#Special26’ act-but neither is able to live up to expectations. #UTVMovies #UTVFilmProduction #KunalDeshmukh #SidharthRoyKapoor #HumaimaMallick #KayKayMenon #RaindropMedia
Hindi film review    
Johnson Thomas      
‘Con’ Job
Film: Raja Natwarlal
Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Humaima Mallick, Paresh Rawal, Kay Kay Menon
Director: Kunal Deshmukh
Rating: *  *

Emraan Hashmi, the ‘Kiss’..star was last seen in ‘Ghanchakkar’ and ‘Ek Thi Daayan’ both of which did not do well at the Box-office. Just when Emraan’s career seemed to be picking up steam(The Dirty Picture,Once Upon a time in Mumbai, Raaz, Murder etc) , he received a rude jolt with those two abovementioned flops. So it’s no surprise that he gets back to doing what he does best in his latest, ‘Raja Natwarlal’ in which he pays a sort of oblique homage to Natwarlal, the king among conmen. This film , somewhat on the lines of the best con film this decade has seen, ‘Special26,’ tries hard to achieve that rare fulfillment that only a successful ‘con’ can give but alas..!

 
This one has no satire-that’s not what people expect from Hashmi. ‘Raja Natwarlal’ is meant to be a rom-con, aiming for romance, intrigue, laughs and thrills. Unfortunately none of that is achieved with any great success. The narrative lines-up a David vs Goliath confrontation between an insignificant conman, Raja(Emraan Hashmi)  who takes on a challenge to bring down an unscrupulously corrupt Billionaire, Varda Yadav(Kay Kay Menon).
Humaima Malick plays Zia, a bar dancer and Raja’s squeeze Deepak Tijori essays the role of Raghav, Raja’s partner,  in crime while Paresh Rawal, plays a retired conman Yogi  who gets drawn back into the game following his estranged brother’s ignominious demise.
Raja Natwarlal and Raghav, live off short cons and day to day hustles but an attempt to strike-it-rich fast, puts their lives in jeopardy. Raghav gets killed and Raja in order to save himself must pull out something much bigger than he has ever done before – albeit with the help of a new mentor, Yogi.

The narrative is devoid of thrills for most of the run time. Kunal Deshmukh serves it all up straight. The con jobs, the romance, the intrigue and the action- with nothing remarkable about anything. It’s not a very convincing con and neither is it very plausible. The characters keep jumping countries and time zones without batting an eyelid. So most of the time you are left wondering what’s happening and where? Fashioned as a formulaic masala entertainer with amateurish cons and stupid philosophies, it’s a mish-mash and doesn’t make much sense. Of course it’s not easy trying to hoodwink an audience that has seen much better. The jumpy coherence, lack of clarity in thought, lumpy execution, contrived song and dance, ridiculous romance raise the tedium by quite a bit. And by the time the director decides to give the audience an explanation , it’s already too late for the audience to lap it up.
The characters are all a little too weakly drawn to make sense. The performances are likable but not strong enough to make it all look believable. The ‘soulful songs’ panacea like in every Emraan Hashmi movie, does its bit to engage but this time it doesn’t seem really enough.  Pakistani actress Humaima Malick looks different from the Bollywood stereotype and so is a welcome addition. The rest is pretty much balderdash!

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