'Welcome To Karachi'
Director: Ashish R. Mohan
Cast: Arshad Warsi, Jackky Bhagnani, Lauren Gottlieb
Rating: *
'Welcome to Karachi' is an attempt at a political satire with the backdrop of the 'explosive' (literally) situation in Pakistan.
Shammi (Arshad Warsi) and Kedar Patel (Jackky Bhagnani) , the Indian version of dumb and dumber, decide to sneak into USA on a boat because Kedar wants to go and his visa gets rejected repeatedly. A freak accident lands them in the heart of Karachi, Pakistan instead.
What follows is a half funny, half not so funny adventure of the two bumbling idiots, who are by now desperate to get back to this side of the border. What stands out in this film is the fairly intelligent writing, which includes a few uproariously funny dialogues, and which belies the writer's (Vrijesh Hirjee) fair understanding of the current political scenario.
The first half keeps you entertained as the situations and dialogues keep you consistently guffawing, even as you get anxious for the safety of the two simpletons who have managed to land themselves among a Taliban group. Some situations are uproariously funny, as the writer bravely takes subtle digs at a particular airline (name conveniently beeped out) and a few other taboo topics which are otherwise spoken in hushed whispers.
What doesn't work is the annoying background music, tacky visual effects and inconsistent direction (Ashish R Mohan). While Mohan's attempt to recreate Karachi and the irreverent way its situation is portrayed is worthy of appreciation, his story telling loses all steam in the second half.
After interval the story gets dragged, leading to an unnecessarily stretched climax.
We all know Arshad Warsi is a competent actor and his talent shows in a particularly hilarious scene which includes a Indo-Pak cricket match. Jackky Bhagnani, as a money minded but daft Gujarati boy is good. Lauren Gotleib proves that she is a far better dancer than actor, as she sizzles in a dance number. Pakistani actors, Ayub Khoso and Adnan Shah, add dollops of delight to the narration.
Worth one watch.