MUMBAI: It's not often these days for theaters to reverberate with laughter from clean, clear-cut comedies for the entire family as they regularly used to a little over a decade ago. This year itself, Laapataa Ladies is the only title that comes to mind as both Stree 2 and Munjya united horror with comedy while Madgaon Express and Crew had more than their fair share of adult humor. Enter Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video, which, from the trailer, carries a slightly risque tone, but knowing writer-Director Raaj Shaandilyaa's erstwhile works, including the two Dream Girl movies, it's safe to say that the appearances of his trailers can be deceptive in their themes, but stay par for the course when it comes to their laugh-out-loud comic content, with the Rajkummar Rao and Triptii Dimri starrer being no different.
The straightforward premise, another stapel of Shaandilyaa's films — reminding that comedies need to just make you laugh and not challenge your intellect — continues as expected from the trailer, with our eponymous protagonists left in the lurch after their X-rated video of their wedding night goes missing in their locality, unleashing a chain of events that range from funny to really funny to downright hilarious. Said chain of events are accentuated by a smattering of well-defined characters, including a lazy, playboy cop, our protagonists' flirtatious elder sister, in-laws on either side seeking one-upmanship, an underpaid maid, plus a do-gooder and his sleazy brother-in-law. Put them together, and the laughs land thick and fast from first frame to last.
Of course, it wouldn't have mattered how good Raaj Shaandilyaa's direction or is writing along with his mini-army of screenplay and dialogue writers would be had it not been for his ensemble cast in red-hot form, with Rajkummar Rao carrying on his merry way after Stree 2, Triptii Dimri delivering hitherto her best, Vijay Raaz reaffirming that there's nothing he can't do, Mallika Sherawat reminding us of her relatively untapped comic potential post Welcome, and the trio of Tiku Talsania, Rakesh Bedi, and Archana Puran Singh rekindling memories of their humours heydays.
The usage of evergreen 90s melodies sans tinkering with their beats, especially as backdrop on Raaz and Sherawat's uncomfortable romance, also lends a lovely touch as does Hitesh Sonik's overall background score and Aseem Mishra infusing the rustic milieu and 90s feel into the narrative. Prakash Chandra Sahoo's editing, particularly in the second half, is a stretchy letdown though as is Shaandilyaa's unnecessarily incongruous, preachy climax, slightly diluting the preceding comic impact.
Make no mistake though: Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video is almost a guaranteed laugh-a-minute ride until that aforementioned climax, meriting a trip to your nearest theater.
3.5/5 stars
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