Movie Review: Club 60

Starring – Farooq Sheikh, Sarika, Raghubir Yadav, Satish Shah, Tinnu Anand, Sharat Saxena, Vineet kumar Director - Sanjay Tripathy Rating - * * * * There are movies that tend to leave an indelible impression on your mind once you finish watching it. Scenes from it linger inside as you travel back home. You tend to remember a few dialogues that you can identify very well with. Club 60 is one such movie that will guarantee the above effects. The movie will mesmerize you with its brilliant storyline and heart-tugging performances delivered by veterans of our film industry. Club 60 revolves around the lives of Dr. Tareek Sheikh (Farooque Sheikh) and Dr. Saira (Sarika), both of whom are senior doctors of good repute. The death of their only son Ishaan sends both parents especially Dr. Tareek plummeting into acute depression. Tareek even attempts suicide but fails. Although his wife Saira manages to move on, Tareek still remains deeply morose and mired in sorrow. To cope up with the tragedy and find some much needed solace, the couple shifts their residence from Pune to Mumbai. At their new housing complex, they run into an old but flamboyant, French-beard sporting, self-styled Casanova Manubhai Shah (Raghubir Yadav) for whom life seems to be a play station. He dresses with the panache of a 21-year old by wearing t-shirts that have words like ‘Sexsi’ proudly emblazoned on it, talks dirty about girls like a teenager with raging hormones would and runs around with the energy of a kangaroo. However, Manu’s loud talks and boisterous nature fails to cut any ice with Dr. Tareek who feels more frustrated than ever at meeting this new ‘neighbour’ in his new building. Reluctantly and left with no other choice of socializing, Dr. Tareek on the advice of his wife, follows Manubhai and enrolls himself into a social club called Club 60. Here the good doctor is introduced by Manu to other oldies namely Dhillon (Sharat Saxena), Mansukhani (Satish Shah) Zafar (Tinnu Anand) and Sinha (Vineet Kumar). Now these are a group of five unruly aged people whose lives revolve around a tennis court in Club 60. While Dhillon is a retired army office with bristling black whiskers and bulging biceps, Mansukhani is a filthy rich stockbroker who is as stingy as any miser can get. Zafar nicknamed ‘Baiju Bawra’ for his singing is known as much for his songs as he is for his farting abilities which he frequently indulges in while playing tennis. The last one of the group is the retired income tax commissioner Sinha (Vineet Kumar) who is loathed by others for his habit of cracking ‘bore-you-to-death’ PJs at regular intervals. Though all these five are radically different in their personalities and outlook, they get on famously like a house on fire. Their latest entrant, Dr Tareek, however finds it difficult at first to gel with these elderly gentlemen. The film then slowly unravels the lives of all these five different people and their personal tragedies and sufferings that they have been dealing with. Dr Tariq is amazed to see how resilient these people have been in spite of undergoing such massive sufferings in their lives. Suddenly his own personal loss seems insignificant before the wide smiles and happiness of these five gentlemen. The film indirectly sends out the message that one should deal with tragedies with a smiling face and never let it bog you down. Club 60 scores huge brownie points for the superlative performances put in by its actors. Raghubir Yadav aka Mungerilal is simply brilliant in his role as Manubhai. He runs around with the gay abandon of a child and easily impresses everyone with his acting histrionics which at the end leaves you with a lump in your throat. Although Club 60 doesn’t really have a lead actor per se, Raghubir in all fairness does have a slightly larger and prominent screen presence in the movie as compared to others. Farooq Sheikh impresses yet again with his very natural and effortless acting and seamlessly portrays the role of a frustrated and depressed father. Sarika’s emotional scenes are quite poignant and does make one sit up and take note of the wonderful performer that she is. Tinnu Anand, Vineet Kumar and Satish Shah play their roles well too. But the man who needs a special mention is the burly Sharat Saxena. Seen in a really unusual role, quite different from clichéd ones that he has played till now, Sharat deliver a breezy performance throughout. The high-point however for us definitely was the scene where Sharat, in an inebriated state, asks out a very dishy-looking Mona Wasu (special appearance) at a posh night-club for a one-night stand. What happens next will definitely make you laugh. Debutant director Sanjay Tripathi has definitely started out with a bang with Club 60. The only glitch however is that the actors of the movie are not faces that can help you launch a thousand products in India. But then, it would have been impossible to make this movie with our so-called commercial box-office stars. Verdict – If you want an encore of ‘The Lunchbox,’ go ahead and book your seats for Club 60.