Rating : 3
Review:
A loose Indian adaptation of the Spanish romcom Seres Queridos' (Only Human') in which a Palestinian boy meets his Jewish girlfriend's family, Total Siyapaa' explores the India-Pakistan cultural divide through the relationship of Ali Zafar and Yami Gautam, set against the backdrop of London. So, Asha (Yami's character) brings home her boyfriend - only to realize that her dysfunctional family goes ballistic once they find out that Aman (Ali's character) is Pakistani. What follows next is pandemonium, and Aman finds himself in a nightmare where he has to contend with a loud potential mother-in-law (Kirron Kher), her cheating husband (Anupam Kher), a lusty sister-in-law, a bullying brother-in-law and a grandfather who is a nutjob.
E. Nivas, who is making his comeback as a director after six years since the forgettable De Taali', seems to have started out with good intentions, but tripped and attempted to salvage a thinning plot as best as he could towards the end. Writer Neeraj Pandey, who gave us hits like A Wednesday' and Special 26' has tried his best to inject the humor of Seres Queridos' into the movie, and succeeded to a point, beyond which it is basically slapstick and buffoonery.
Performance-wise, Kirron Kher takes the cake - playing the loud Punjabi paranoid mother to a T, and her scenes with Zafar - from chemistry to comic timing - are definitely the best in the movie. Yaami Gautam's character is not well sketched out - and we could definitely have done with some more of Anupam Kher. The rest of the characters play out well as well.
The upside of being an actor-singer is that you can sing for your own movies - and that is exactly what Ali Zafar does - singing all of the five songs of the movie, and having written two of them too - Palat Meri Jaan' and Asha'. The music and lyrics of the songs compliments the plot in all its quirkiness and fun.
All in all, the movie promised a world of fun in its snappy trailer - but when it comes down to brass tacks, it leaves you wanting for more - particularly some more finesse of the plot and refinement of the humor. However, given the always successful USP of India versus Pakistan, this movie does juggle that delicate theme without ruffling any feathers - boiling down the antagonism to mere cultural differences. It does not promise to stay etched in your memory long after you have watched it - but if you are not looking for that, you can go watch it once for sure.
https://www.mensxp.com/entertainment/movie-reviews/22091-mensxps-exclusive-bollywood-movie-review-total-siyapaa-2014_.html
Anupamaa
1