Movie Review: Sharafat Gayi Tel Lene

The greatest quality of a film is that it allows its viewer a chance to escape reality. It offers you an opportunity to invest your emotions in a far fetched story. One that wouldn't come true under normal circumstances. One that piques your interest. A story that consciously or inadvertently simulates your own aspirations. Wouldn't we all give anything to one day discover that our bank balance has gone from having measely thousands to something fanciful like a 10 digit number. That's the big play in Sharaft Gayi Tel Lene. Zayed Khan's character discovers 100 crores in his account. But the catch is its Dawood's money. And that's where it all goes crazy. Inconsistent execution not withstanding, this funny little film actually serves up a few pleasant surprises.

So the story is the most curious part of this film. But it doesn't end at the underworld intimidation game. Like a decent con film, the movie serves up one or two genuine plot twists. Yes the crux of the story seems a little too familiar to staple movie fare from the west. But the writers of Sharafat have managed to design a reasonably solid script. The only place it falters is its too-convenient cop-out ending. But rest of the way, till it gets to its anticlimactic end, it does manage to muster up decent thrills.

Debut director Gurmmeet Singh does a decent job too. He doesn't complicate his approach to the subject and keeps it simple. There are no fancy filmmaking techniques. Just plain old plot and actor play with some decent dialogue. But that's also where the film falters. With Zayed Khan, Rannvijay Singh and Tena Desae in the leads it does fall a little short on the acting department. All three do more than a capable job. But these kind of films just require that extra bit of onscreen magic which is sadly missing.

But make no mistake, Zayed Khan and Rannvijay Singh are excellent in their performances. Tena Desae is good in a limited role too. But a seasoned performer like Anupam Kher could've had so much more impact, if only his role had more dimensions. Right at the end as the climax is building up, Kher's role assumes a larger importance and you can instantly feel the difference.

There's an interesting item number to distract the average viewer too. It sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb. The music, the camera work and the production design on this movie are all limited by its budget. And yet despite so many middling characteristics the film retains a certain element of novelty. Its the equivalent of an uncut and unpolished diamond.