Why cheat india review thread - Page 2

T-Series, Ellipsis Entertainment and Emraan Hashmi Films' Why Cheat India(UA) is a film about the flawed education system of India.

Rakesh Singh alias Rocky (Emraan Hashmi) runs a business of getting fake degrees in engineering and other streams for rich students by making brilliant but financially poor students write the examination papers for them. In this way, the rich get degrees for a price, the poor make money (paid by Rocky) and Rocky himself makes huge profits. The patently illegal business is sought to be justified by Rocky as a harmless business initiated to beat the evils and wrongs in the education system in India, which lays more emphasis on rote learning rather than basic intelligence. Rocky's own father, Inderjeet Singh (Keshav Chandra Mishra), doesn't approve of Rocky's illegal business.

One such poor but brilliant student who clears the Engineering entrance exams with flying colours is Sattu (Snigdhadeep Chatterjee) whom Rocky lures into writing papers for rich students, for a price, of course. Sattu initially enjoys the experience of making big and fast money but soon, he takes to drugs when he can't cope with the tension of his own Engineering studies and impersonating rich students in examination halls. He is once jailed for impersonation but is bailed out by Rocky's men. He is soon caught for drug possession and dismissed from college. Rocky steps in and sends him abroad with a fake Engineering degree. Sattu's sister, Nupur (Shreya Dhanwanthary), starts falling in love with Rocky but the love story ends abruptly when Rocky tells her that he's a married man. Rocky and Nupur meet again some months later when Rocky explains to her why his extra-marital affair with her was justified. The two once again come close.

Meanwhile, upright police officer Qureshi (Varun Tamta), hot on Rocky's trail, nabs him with hundreds of crores of rupees in cash at his home. Rocky is jailed but thanks to his contacts, manages to come out on bail soon enough. He had already been working on plans to now get into the MBA stream to make more money per student. In his first attempt, he lays his hands on the MBA entrance examination paper, hires some brilliant MBA students to answer the multiple choice questions and sells those answers to gullible rich students. One such student is girlfriend Nupur.

But the arm of law catches up with Rocky and he now reaches the court where he justifies his business, saying that he had gotten into it to correct the wrongs in the education system. The public prosecutor exposes him completely in the court.

Does Rocky mend his ways? What happens to Sattu? Do Rocky and Nupur continue in their relationship? Or do they get married? What about Rocky's principled father, Inderjeet Singh, who had all along been critical of his business?

Soumik Sen has written the story and screenplay, besides co-writing the dialogues (with Juhi Saklani and Mishka Shekhawat) and directing the film. Soumik seems to be totally confused about what he wants to say. Even if Rocky feels, he is correcting the wrongs of the education system, doesn't he understand that he is doing so by committing crimes? Any adult should know that a crime is more serious than a wrong. Sattu's father is shown to be a serious and no-nonsense kind of a person. So how does he allow Sattu to be part of Rocky's crime syndicate? Or does Sattu's family at all know what Sattu is doing in collusion with Rocky? It's not at all clear!

Actually, the very first scene of the film gives the impression to the viewers that something's going to be terribly wrong with the film. The film opens with an introduction to India's education system by Rocky, wherein he says that parents dream about fancy degrees for their kids while the poor kids get bogged down trying to fulfil those dreams. Bogged down? Why is it so wrong for parents to dream about a bright future for their children? Just why? Again, while Rocky is trying to convince Sattu to join him, he uses the dialogue, "Akalmand toh tum ho hee, ab nakalmand bano. Yes, nakalmandmay be a coinage but where is Sattu required to do nakal (copy)? What Sattu has to do is to write the exam papers for other students and that is not copying.

Again, when Rocky lectures police officer Qureshi about the flawed education system while referring to his (Qureshi's) own son's inability to pass the exams, he criticises the rote learning approach. But how on earth does Rocky know that Qureshi's son has failed several times because he is not good at rote learning? The reason for his regular failures could be something else surely. Every student cannot be failing because of the incorrect education system. When Qureshi's son returns home after his latest exam and tells his father about how Rocky had come to his rescue when the invigilator had torn his answer paper for no fault of his, the father slaps him for taking Rocky's help. But what about the invigilator wronging Qureshi's son? And the son doesn't ask for Rocky's help he doesn't even know Rocky. Rather, Rocky comes to his rescue.

When Rocky tries to justify his extra-marital affair with Nupur to her, he offers such a lame reason that it almost gives a licence to every man to stray if he is married to a girl who is not of his liking. In the courtroom drama, Rocky speaks such nonsense that it's a wonder the judge doesn't ask him to shut up forever. In essence, he tries to justify his criminal activities by underlying the flaws in the education system. And he expects the judge to agree with his viewpoint. Going by Rocky's logic, if justice is not imparted to a rapist, it should give others wanting to rape women, a licence to rape them. Such a ridiculous piece of logic coming from a hero never mind if he is a negative hero looks absolutely senseless.

It is mistakes like the above which make the script appear so flawed that the flaws in the education system look like small change in comparison. Perhaps, the only good points in the film are the way in which Rocky is arrested by Qureshi after laying a trap, the public prosecutor's arguments in court, and the lecture given by Rocky's father to him in jail. But even they pale into insignificance when compared to the trash on offer in the rest of the film. The climax is hardly interesting.

Juhi Saklani, Mishka Shekhawat and Soumik Sen's dialogues range from very good to very incorrect (nakalmandi).

Emraan Hashmi does well as Rakesh alias Rocky. But with a flawed character like that, he will never win the sympathy or support of the audience. For a film of this kind, that was of utmost importance. Shreya Dhanwanthary is very confident in her debut performance. Although she has not looked pretty, her acting is very good. Snigdhadeep Chatterjee performs well in the role of Sattu. Shibani Bedi is extremely entertaining as Rocky's wife. Manuj Sharma tries to be funny in the role of Rocky's aide, Bablu, but the script doesn't help him at all. Nawal Shukla leaves a mark as Sattu's father. Keshav Chandra Mishra makes his presence felt with a fine performance as Rocky's father. Varun Tamta shines as police officer Qureshi by delivering a restrained performance. Ramesh Chandra Pathak is good as Ashok uncle. Gaurav Dwivedi has his moments as Jatin Shukla. Rajesh Jais leaves a mark as the public prosecutor. Tanmay Lahiri stands out in a brief role as Qureshi's son. Sameeksha Gaur (as Bablu's wife, Jahnvi), Priyanka Maurya (as Nupur's friend) and Anita Sahgal (as Sattu's mother) lend able support. Others are adequate.

Soumik Sen's direction is good. Despite a weak script, his narration is able. Music (Rochak Kohli for remixed version of Bappi Lahiri's Dil mein ho tum', Guru Randhawa for Daaru wargi', Kunaal-Rangon for Phir mulaqat', Krsna Solo for Stupid saiyaan', Agnee for Kaamyaab', and Soumik Sen for Taiyaari') is fair. The songs are decent but the absence of hit numbers is felt. Lyrics (Manoj Muntashir for Dil mein ho tum', Guru Randhawa for Daaru wargi', Kunaal Verma for Phir mulaqat', Kumaar for Stupid saiyaan', and Juhi Saklani for Kaamyaab' and Taiyaari') are quite nice. Vijay Ganguly's choreography is okay. Y. Alphonse Roy's cinematography is fair. Neel Adhikari's background music is routine. Sandeep Suvarna's production designing is commonplace. Dipika Kalra's editing is alright but could have been a bit sharper.

On the whole, Why Cheat India is too flawed to make any mark whatsoever at the box-office. It will be almost rejected by the paying public, more so after the first weekend.