Nikal ja saamne se nahin to maar dalunga!
Nikal ja saamne se nahin to maar dalunga!
Thus gentle words of endearment did Paresh Rawal speak to his make up man of eight years on the first morning the beard found his cheeks on the sets of Oye Lucky.
The beard was a problem. Paresh Rawal hates putting on a false beard. His skin can’t take it. He can’t talk. He shuts off. He hates growing one even more, and even if he did grow one, by the time he would grow one the size we needed we would all have reached dotage.
As soon as the beard was fixed, the generally happy, relaxed mood of the set changed. We had become used to a Paresh who was easy, patient, chilled, forever on the sets, standing at his mark happily even between lighting adjustment, benevolently chiding the crew to get a move on. (Jaldi karo, The desire for acting is strong! Jaldi jaldi!)
The fucking beard changed all that.
The crew was edgy. My irrepressible Chief Vandana’s voice had dropped a few decibels. Priya my EP was very very calm – which meant she was very very tense. Kartik the DOP was actually hurrying up with his last minute adjustments! Paresh’s make up man was standing calmly, all stoic resignation, about ten feet away from Paresh.
Paresh was in the get up. He was looking strong, virile, tense, bottled up, a hairbreadth away from flying off in a rage. Just the kind of father we don’t need when growing up as a juvenile delinquent in an inner city ghetto. But just the kind of father Lucky had in the script. And just the right mix of glowering, bellowing frustration and bullying that makes a son who desperately wants to look up to you, hate you instead.
Bong, we nailed it, I said to myself.
Paresh and I had had a chat about this months ago when it became clear that he would have to put on a false beard for the first time in years. His friends were actually calling up and confirming the news, disbelievingly. Apparently this was a coup. Paresh don’t beard up for nobody – that’s how the industry grapevine went. Paresh clarified to me that after giving in to my demand to do two roles in the film, accepting the third one was pure, mad greed. That he was scared about the triple role to begin with, because it needed reinventing another person, voice, gait, demeanour and behaviour for the third time within a space of two hours and yet make it believable. He had accepted it for the sheer challenge. But this beard was another matter altogether. It would render him itchy, cranky, set his face in a grim mask, and he would not be able to smile.
Both of us swallowed and lived with this for a while. Moments ago we had talked excitedly about how to differentiate the three characters.
Gogi Bhai, the first character I had approached him for, was all set. A research thru all the famous eighties hairstyles – Anil Kapoor, Mithunda, Raj Babbar, Dheeraj Kumar – had given me the perfect wig. All hennaed brown, middle parting, forehead and back of the head overhang without sideburns. The perfect style for a slightly obsolete type – the singing, dancing musical party leader who would get his troupe to entertain you at Goldie’s marriage or Rimpy’s son’s mundan. The voice was nailed – a hoarse, cracked rasp belying years of shrieking and warbling on rickety stages with over – reverbed sound systems. We had Akshay, our voice coach, record a CD of a phone conversation about a long overdue payment in the typical style and accent. Paresh was practicing using that as an audio guide. Manoshi and Rushi, the costume designers had compiles a wardrobe – all black suits, white shoes, Jai Mata Di dushalas (for those Jagaran nights that Gogi Bhai must be doing), gold chains and polo necks that actually made him sexy in a crazy, seedy way.
Doctor Handa, the second character, was set too. A nice potbelly. Cravats. Sunday sports blazers that one would wear to the Karishma Nagar Amity Club (Regd.) Annual Tambola Night. A smooth moustache. A smooth side parted hundred buck haircut. A smooth smile. Smooth, silky voice. Glasses, metal framed. Leather card case. And the eyes. A cow like, almost effeminate gaze that looks at you sideways adoringly before the thin, fawning voice asks, “You’re from film line?” and a manicured hand extends a Schaeffer Gold Tip at you.
Then came Lucky’s father. A cooler manufacturer from Rajouri Garden – putting his three sons through government school and maintaining a mistress in the house at the same time. Tough face, tougher hands. Dark, calloused hands that have shoveled knee deep snow in Kazakistan on a fake work permit, or wound miles of copper wire on industrial generators, or driven a beat up Bajaj Chetak eighty kilometers daily to and from the job, and had beaten a long suffering wife into silent submission. A hard, lined face, still holding on to the virility and strength of a passionate man. But giving in to the growing failure, frustration and futility of a life deadened by wrong choices.
A face with a beard that would go through three stages of aging. What a role for a third role in a triple role.
Now we doubted whether there would be the third role at all.
Then the famous moment that I would write about in my memoirs one day, struck.
What if he doesn’t smile at all? One of us, I don’t remember who, said.
Throughout the film? All the scenes?
Yes. That’s an immediate departure from Gogi Bhai, who laughs that animal laugh we worked out.
Hmm. Interesting. That would help the character the way we see it.
And he can be constantly cranky! Because he’s a loser, a man slowly being defeated by life, and he knows it!
And the fact that he’s losing grip on his son, who has started rebelling! He can be glowering all the time!
And you can be in a bad mood through out… it’ll only help! We’re in a difficult location, the crew will move faster…
Such is the power of one fake beard. A character is born.
Right now about five hundred people were peering down the picturesque rooftops and balconies of Delhi’s Sarai Rohilla neighbourhood to see Paresh Rawal give the shot. His character was in full spate, raging, bellowing, throwing pots, pans and whatever came in his hands at his errant son Lucky.
The scene was noisy, funny, angry, Paresh was magnificent. I was rubbing my hands in wicked glee.
The scene got over. We started wrapping. Paresh left after giving his son Lucky a hug, mumbling maaf karna yaar! Apologizing for all the abuse, physical and verbal, that he had heaped on the young fourteen-year-old actor, who in fact was acting in his first film ever.
The people were still standing around, waiting. Why, we wondered. Then I overheard something that explained it all.
Abe yaar dhoop me aur kitti senkenge? Paresh rawal ka scene kab utarenge ye?
A ke gaya dekha nahin?
Kaun wo mental sirdaar?
Aur kya?
Abe koi na hai wo Paresh Rawal. Ainwi? Free fund me Paresh Rawal? Local actor se scene karwa rahen hain fir Paresh Rawal kahke rate badha rahen hain!
As I said earlier, we nailed it.
Tags: Abhay Deol, Dibakar Banerjee, Gallery, Images, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, Paresh Rawal, UTV
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
hi sir its nice to see u on this site…..
saala bahut chalu hai….
paresh ki dadhi mein character….!
you indeed nailed it…
Man, this was an engrossing read..as you say..nailed it totally!!
hahahahahhaha rofl
superb read
whoa!
NAILED IT COMPLETELY!!! :P
Loved “Paresh was in the get up. He was looking strong, virile, tense, bottled up, a hairbreadth away from flying off in a rage. Just the kind of father we don’t need when growing up as a juvenile delinquent in an inner city ghetto.” :P
Loved the minute attention to details that you provide. That’s what elevates the story telling to a whole new level. Looking forward to watching it :D
Awesome Sir Jee, can’t wait to watch it
)
And good luck!!!!
a nice read indeed….im just amazed at the minute details that u use to create a character as evident from ur interview on cnnibn and here….
expecting gold from OLLO
hahah..damn funny read..with lodas of gyaan in between
Nice read…. waiting to see Paresh Rawal in “mental sardar” get-up…
damn…cant stop grinning….really looking forward to Paresh Rawal’s triple act…..
:-)
cant wait for this dibankar…
hope its releasing in Aus
‘free fund mein Paresh Rawal!’
Wow…the lingo brings back so many memories…:)
Dibakar- a request.
Can you share the screenplay (any draft, Hindi or English version) of Khosla Ka Ghosla for your fans here?
Thanks
Anand
hahaha. fawkin amazing. u nailed it sir & how.
u made a place for urself in industry folklore.
free fund mein paresh rawal. ROTFLMAO.
Ha ha ha – my homies at Sarai Rohilla are not to be trifled with – “mental sardaar”!
Yeh Karishma Nagar kidhar ko padta hai – South?
Wonderful read!!! Thank you for this…
Haha. Wonderful read… yeah Pareshji sure looks angry in that beard.
It could also be true that the people watching the scene could not recognize him behind that thick beard. It happened in Kamal’s Dasavatharam movie too. Lots of people came out and wondered why Kamal had to hide behind thick layers of make-up and what difference it would have made if another actor has portrayed the same role!
Sorry Dibakar… couldn’t help laughing (not that I do not take you seriously!). Honestly, my friend this very post gives the slightest hints of history being made (been made already, though!). There was never that keen a desire to watch Paresh in a beard… but now that you have mentioned the story, I can’t help imagining what a performance it would be! Best wishes!
LOL. So much so for detailing! This one is for the journals.
Refreshing! Thanks for sharing Dibakar…
Got to know some things that happen behind the scenes too. And I had not known that Pareshji never had a beard until now in any of his movies.
Come to think of it, may be he had a stubble or something in Mirch Masala. Can anyone confirm?
Cheers!
Hey Dibakar,
Heard you were a copywriter with Contract, Delhi a long time ago.
Shows, man.
“Abe koi na hai wo Paresh Rawal. Ainwi? Free fund me Paresh Rawal?”
Awesome. Bang on.
10 on 10.
@Abhay/Dibakar
I just saw “OYE LUCKY OYE”, I must tell u I have just fallen in love with your film. Outstanding Performances by all the actors, excellent dialogues, tight screenplay 130mins.
Right from the title sequence (it is a Paisa Vasool sequence) till the freezing moment of Lucky in the climax the entire film is brilliant. I am finding it very difficult to search for the right superlatives for this film.In a long time guys such a fresh subject with the smell of the environment has been woven so well in the film format.
Paresh Rawal after Mumbai meri jaan has come up with another trump card in 3 performing roles and you know what nobody is asking how come all 3 different characters look alike , the audience is so involved in the mannerisms of those characters there is no time for them to think in that direction ,ACE !!!
Abhay Deol, what a marvellous natural performance he has given,he has played the con-artist/thief to the T, his biggest commercial successfull film till date and this is going to benefit DEV.D opening collections too ,mark my words,Another ACE !!!
And the music WITH supporting actors is your third ACE !!!
CONGRATS TO THE ENTIRE UTV TEAM AND THE DIRECTION TEAM,
An Outstanding FILM EXPERIENCE !!!
GK
G.K.Desai , where did u see if movie has not yet released….and if possible please write a complete review …
@Anand
I saw the trial yesterday 3pm, I am not a critic/reviewer, I am an Actor/Producer pl see/read below for details
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2377163/
Catch my Interview taken by Luke Kenny (ROCK ON!! Fame) tonight on ZEE STUDIO CHANNEL 10pm !!!
GK
@ GK….
i recognize you….
” anjali madam kitni achchi thi…kitni achchi partiyan deti thi..”
u have an interesting line up of films ahead…
@Ashwin
Thanks Man !!
Catch my Interview taken by Luke Kenny (ROCK ON!! Fame) tonight on ZEE STUDIO CHANNEL 10pm !!!
GK
GK Desai do u think OLLO will do well at box office
i m not exoecting big numbers but do u think movie will gain momentum at box office with good WOM
Dibakar, When I heard OLLO tittle track I sent SMS to 40 friends asking them to buy a CD before EOD or I’ll have them murdered. I saw the trailer and I cant forgive you for what you have done with the title track. I have been conjuring up so many images about the track and when I saw the song, I was so disappointed that I kept changing the channel whenever the promos came on tv. My roomie was like ” Wasn’t this the song you kept yelling about at work the other day?”. All my excitement for the songs and the movie has seen a tragic death.
@Movie fan
I dont think but I am confident WOM will be too strong for OLLO success, Abhay’s first big success !!!
@Neeraj
I have seen the film and after u see it all your doubts will be put to rest and you will be back on Track !!!
@ G.K. Desai, I am hopeful of that and I will be a strong WoM epicentre for this movie but what I still cant digest is the treatment to the oye lucky song… I hardly listen to the current lot of bollywood music and in that the punju music that comes from bollywood but OLLO’s music was like art for me. It had the integrity towards its basic element of “punju at heart”. The video was so forced. Please understand, if I am writing so fervently about my angst for the video, you should know how much I love the song and how much I want this movie to be work.
@Neeraj
I can only say “You are just 5 days away,hold on ”
GK
Hey Dibakar, i’m really happy to see another film coming after Khosla ka Ghosla…i really liked Khosla ka ghosla…
the day i saw the OLLO’s title track on air, i picked up the soundtrack..n guess what..i love it..esp Jugni and another one that has a boy as a playback singer..i’m glad Sneha Khanwalkar came up with folk numbers in this project..i remember reading Chronicles:Vol 1 by Dylan where he mentioned that how folk music is gradually dying…
i can’t really comment on the film,cos i haven’t seen it yet,and i’d prefer to give my honest opinion when it releases…Anyhow, it’s great to see Sneha and Amit Trivedi coming up in the music industry (i loved his Chakar Ghumiyo from AAmir, and now he has DEv D)..i am so fed up of dhink-chak music that the other musicians are giving…After a while,u get tired of listening to that crap…
Another thing that i feel i should mention in this..i am very excited to see Paresh Rawal in playing three roles…i love that actor…he was brilliant in No Smoking..
good luck with OLLO….
I saw the film last night, at a screening here in NYC. What a brilliant movie, and no wonder, coming from a brilliant filmmaker like you! Your piece here about the power of a beard is such a pleasure to read, filled with insight and humor. The choice to cast Mr. Rawal in three different roles, all “paternal” to Deol’s Lucky, was absolute genius. And his turn as the father, with the now infamous beard, a personal favorite.
Thank you for a different kind of film. Thank you for touching our hearts while tickling our funny bone and enriching our day to day life experience.
The only complaint I have is that UTV and Film Karavan did not do a good job at promoting this NYC screening and getting non-desis to view a film that stretches across all borders of race, language and social status… They should have done more to include students of NYU – where it was screened – and such, instead of worrying about reserving VIP seats… I was sorry to sit in a half-filled theater, instead of a buzzingly full one as the movie deserved!
Dibakar, what a lovely, amazing film you’ve made! I saw it yesterday night with my boyfriend who isn’t Indian and this was the first Hindi film he ever saw.
I got more and more excited through the screening as I saw vignettes I grew up with – the mohalley ke ladkey beating the crap out of the public school sissies (hey, I went to a public school too
), the Archies card gallery, the restaurant with the couple, characters like Gogi bhai, jugaad, thulley…
Ok, I can go on and on. And once the film finished I was yapping away to my boyfriend trying to explain all the references and at one point he said – “You know, I really liked the film. You don’t have to be from Delhi to like it”
There, you’ve managed to get through to at least one person who came with no preconceived notions, no expectations, who hasn’t even seen KKG (I did see KKG and loved it).
In fact, my boyfriend had no clue that Lucky’s father, Gogi bhai and Dr. Handa were played by the same actor till I pointed it out to him. What a magnificent performance by Paresh Rawal. He brings such nuance, variation in every character.
And Abhay was a perfect pick. He gets the lahja right, he gets the rogue-ish charm right, he gets the cool persona right.
Lovely script, great music and thank you for including my favourite Surinder Kaur song.
Don’t get detracted by the whiners who will invariably claim that this was no patch on KKG. I’ve seen both and I assure you that this is the superior film. The script is tighter, and the dialogue sparkles more.
Hey Dibakar
Thanks for makiing OLLO. I have to say your films are not films…. they are hands on experience. Although I could relate more to KKG than OLLO but at the same time, now when I think about OLLO, I dont feel it was a movie…I really feel i happened in real and I witnessed it. THATS what make it so special. There are few flaws but I am sure you would know them better than me. I have to ask you this…seems like you are not punjabi..then how are you able to bring such a original punjabi flavor to your films??? Please share with us.
Dev
Boston.
Amazing anecdote. Paresh rocked in his 3 some roles. Abhay is smart, stylish and simply suave. The movie demands mutiple watch, just to discover the detailing. Honestly, while watching in Mumbai, I was gradually teleported to Delhi. After the movie ended, I was forced to remember my 7 year stay in the city. The accents, the small decorative items in the house, the dresses- I can only say one thing Dibakarda….”God is in the details” !
Cheers!
~fe~
Sir,
Iv never done this before but will do so now. I saw “Khosla Ka Ghosla”. I’m sorry to tell you that i dint like it. I know that maybe i am the first person to say that. But i dint. Then today i watched “Oye lucky”. I have this immense respect for you as an aspiring film maker from today. Its brilliant! I just loved it. The best part was the small character with amazing dialect and expressions. Hope to read more from you. Thanks, you made my day.
brilliant movie boss [:)]
Sir ji…
Aapke Charan Sparsh karna chahta hu main …
Sach mein …
Kya movie banaayi hai …
Majaa aa gaya …
Release ke next din hi dekh li thi … par post aaj padhne ka time mila … Project me busy tha…
Office me baitha hu .. S/W engg. hu … PFC ka ‘bhi’ fan hu …
What mehnat u have put in the movie… I really love the characters u have assembled …
Dolly … Great !!! Just great .. It gave me an inside view of these kind of women’s psyche …
‘Tujhe kaise pata chala ki main bhookhi thi … gogi bhai ne bhi nahi poocha ek baar bhi …’
Dolly ki Mummy .. Laalchi aurat…
Dolly ka Husband … The perfect example of a pure zoru ka ghulaam ….
Bengali – ‘Bhai nahi hai kya yaar…’ Every single north indian banda talks to his friends like this …including me ;-)
Neetu Chandra – Damn beautiful .. Too suave .. an unexplored gem till this movie, I would say …
Haryaanvi Intelligence officer – Kya dum tha bande ki awaaj me … Ekdum tailor made tha is role ke liye …
Chhota Lucky – ‘Saal me bas 2 baar aata hai mera B’dday ..’ What charm !!! what slyness …
Bada Lucky – I think that Abhay Deol is a fantastic actor… And he proved me right once again…
And Finally,Paresh Sir is just above all .. He has done what at some time “Sanjeev Kumaar” used to do …
Such elegance, such panache.. U cant find such fine nuances he displayed through his facial expressions and voice modulations, in any other actor today except the veterans of his leaguee like anupam kher(He was great in KKG…), Naseer ji etc.
Sir ji, Keep up the good work .. Fans like me will always keep admiring ur work …
Great Movie …
Great Performance
and yes … Great Post too ….Keep writing …
I noticed something – when Chhota Lucky takes the giftshop girl to the restaurant, there is someone outside saying, “Yeh gaadi yahan kisne rakhi hai”, when the older Lucky takes Neetu Chandra out for the 1st time, a similar thing happens.
I presume it was intentional, very nice touch
Hi Dibakar,
i have seen you films & liked it. You are the next gen of Indian Cinema
After watching the films i have one question unanswered.. there was a continuity break in the film .. is it intensional (Story-requirement) or co-incidence.
The scene.. in
37 min of the film lucky steals the second merc from Chada’s house .
(38min) gogi bhai, bangali & lucky standing and drinking near red merc .
(39min) lucky in car back street ..reading a mag…
(39:19) Jugni track..lucky way of doing robbery
(40min) Lucky’s pics transition {growing up}
(41:17 min) Collage scene
(42:17 min) Coffee Shop scene
(44:05) luck trying to be Macho in-front of the girl — car stunt scene
(45 min)Luck ,gogi bhai & bangali money distrbution scene (45:42 min) Gogi bhai, bangali & Lucky reached MLA’s sons House with red merc
I think acc to the shooting script scene at 45:42 min it alined after the 38 min scene (b’cos) the costumes of Gogi bhai, bangli & Lucky are the same from the 38 scene ..
and the scene fit proper … lucky stole the car..take it to gogi bhai….next day deliver to MLA’s Son..
So Why,,. it was change in edit .. to buy time to built lucky’ Love life..
I apologies to be too technical about it .
reply me on PFC
or
max_colon@hotmail.co.uk
Vivek
What is your* next project
…………… still Waiting …..
While browsing the Google News, came across Hindustan Times news heading “Oye Lucky Lucky Oye” (http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=76c0deff-6128-4997-941d-f67c21befa2a&&Headline=Oye+Lucky!+Lucky+Oye!) thinking, ‘aahhh, finally, someone had guts to cover one of my most fav films of 2008′, and clicked on to be dissapointed. It was about Asin, and about the movie, which was one of the most hated (by me) movie of the year, ‘Ghazini’!
What a KLPD! Aaarrrrggghhhhh ….
Hi Dibakar,
Loved both your movies. The Delhi factor in your movies are awesome and something always missing in the bollywood cinema. Keep up with your good work.
OLLO was surely the movie of the year.. no matter what any critic says
Hi Dibakar,
Amazing !
I appreciate your attention to details in characters their dress their dialouges everyhting perfect. In fact casting is also best… right from Young Lucky … to each hawaldars of Delhi Police.. or Labour standing in Bus queue or Chayi Jee in house where First Mercedez was theft…. everything perfect.
Please let me know if I can be of any contribution to you.
All the best and keep making nice movies.. great make !
Regards,
Manish
HI Dibakar,
Why don’t you reply ..
Write something …
Plz
Dibakar, in case you ever read it, I wrote a review of your film on my blog. I would love to know how much you agree with my review and if you feel I got your film right. Congratulations for making good films. My review follows…
The film is about the journey of a con man called Lucky. We go along the journey with him, a journey which starts from a lower-middle class Sikh household in Delhi. Lucky, played by Abhay Deol, is born in a home where he does not get things he want, including the love of his father (played by Paresh Rawal). His father is the first antagonist in the life of Lucky who tries to suppress the independence and aspirations of his free spirited son. His father is estranged from his wife and is keeping a mistress in his home who, after a failed seduction attempt on teen Lucky, distances father-son even more. As Lucky grows older, he is fascinated with the life of rich and high flying. He sees no reason that why he also cannot get to enjoy all that which those better-off people have. I suspect that this feeling in him of being equally deserving emanates from his core belief that he is as smart as, if not more than, those rich people. He ends up becoming a thief, stealing cars and breaking into rich people’s homes only to decamp with their belongings. He is guided and protected in these unlawful activities by a local sweet talking don, Gogi Bhai, played again by Paresh Rawal. Now, Gogi bhai is the second antagonist in the story; on superficial level, Gogi might seem like helping Lucky, but in reality he is just another character-very much like Lucky’s father- who wants to subdue Lucky’s freedom and instead use Lucky for his own ends. Soon, Lucky outgrows Gogi bhai too and is now completely on his own. Also, Delhi becomes too small for his ambitions and he cons all across India. It’s not that he is never caught by law; he does get caught, but each time, riding on his smartness and charm, he escapes back into his world. Lucky meets his final Bête noire in the form of suave and educated Dr Handa, played once again by Paresh Rawal. Through Handa’s world, which is urbane and high status, Lucky intends to legalize his ill gotten wealth. But, only time will tell if Lucky is successful in doing so. The film, and Lucky’s journey, ends where it should end.
The film’s biggest strength is the characterization of Lucky. It’s very easy to fall in love with that character. He is clever as a hawk and quick as a cheetah. Some people attain confidence in life after years of hard work and success. But, people like Lucky are just born with a king’s confidence. So, whether Lucky, as a 16 year old gawky teenager, is trying to impress a girl in a restaurant or, as bit older Lucky, pulling off a robbery worth millions, his confidence in himself is intact. It’s this confidence and infectious charm in him that a conscientious girl such as Sonal, played by Neetu Chandra, falls for him; knowing well enough that he is a conman. But it’s not her fault. The conman Lucky has a golden heart and he will do anything to protect his loved ones. It’s ironical that it’s this vulnerability in him which proves to be his Bête noire too. For instance, he is so sharp that he escapes from a jail under the nose of several policemen as if it were a child’s play. But, at the same time, he could be such a simpleton that he fails to recognize the guile of Dr Handa by blindly expressing faith in him. OLLO has some amazing moments too. The scene where Dolly, Sonal’s sister, gets angry after her shabby advances are spurned by Lucky is a master scene in exploring Lucky’s character & the social/cultural milieu he lives in. Or the scene where Lucky’s sister in law, during an accidental & awkward family get together in Manali, asks Sonal if she gets the time to study; implicitly suggesting that Sonal, rather than a legitimate girl friend of Lucky, is perhaps some sort of a call girl who is escorting Lucky. There are moments in the film where you get a feeling that Lucky is doing what he is doing because he cannot help it. He steals and cons because deep inside, more than any other reason (monetary or otherwise), he loves/enjoys doing that. You suspect that even if he had lots of money, he might still do the same just for the fun of it; a painter paints because he has to, Lucky steals because he has to. In terms of performances, Abhay Deol does an excellent job and looks every bit a Lucky. Neetu Chandra brings an old world charm to her middle class character, Sonal. Paresh Rawal, playing three different characters with conviction, does a Peter Sellers here; I mean not quite but nevertheless a very commendable performance. The teenager who plays younger Lucky is very sweet and natural in his acting. The guy who plays the side kick of Lucky and the girl who plays Neetu Chandra’s sister are quite good in their performances too.
In spite of all the bouquets I gave to the film above, the film fails in it’s story; because there is no story. The film is only about a journey of an interesting character rather than about any main plot or any major conflict within the character. Yes, the character is interesting but that alone cannot make the story interesting. Twenty minutes into the film and absolutely nothing has happened in terms of main plot development or conflict build up. You anticipate that things are not going to change much till the end; unfortunately, you are proved right. Ofcourse there are various sub plots within the film which have minor conflicts and some interesting moments, but that’s about it. If it was not for the reputation of Dibakar Banerjee, the director who gave us a very clever and interesting Khosla Ka Ghosla, I would have perhaps not even finished the film as I was really getting impatient. The hero of Khosla Ka Ghosla were it’s superbly crafted screenplay and the hook factor in the main plot. In terms of characters and situations, Khosla ka Ghosla had it’s stereotypes and even some manipulation, but the script was so clever that one was forced to overlook those minor shortcomings. OLLO’s characters & milieu are much more real and it’s treatment very mature. But it fails in the most important department which, for any film, is good storytelling. In the end, I would still recommend watching this film on a leisurely Sunday just to experience the character of Lucky and the film’s subtle treatment.
Hi Dibakar…
. Whether we can finally acquire the the film is another story, but the fact that it is on our list without a fight is some achievement.
. I hope I didn’t sound pompous 
.
I don’t know if you remember… last year around the same time there was a discussion about NRI audiences and their choice of Indian cinema (jab aapka woh podcast publish hua tha). I was at that time working on a film festival and had struggled to get ‘Khosla ka Ghosla’ in. This year, I am happy to say, that we have ‘Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye’ on our list and I didn’t have to struggle at all to get it in
I am glad we have films like that to screen. A big thank you for making such films. I assure you, with time, people will definitely acquire a taste for better Indian cinema abroad. Directors like you, need to keep your faith in people like us
So, what’s next? What movie are you working on?
Regards,
Debashri-