Bank Chor
Director: Bumpy
Cast: Ritiesh Deshmukh, Viveik Oberoi, Rhea Chakraborty, Bhuvan Arora, Vikram Thapa
Rating: 1/5
Riteish Deshmukh’s Bank Chor was a much-delayed project with the initial one being touted as TV star Kapil Sharma’s Bollywood debut. However, the production house - Y Films - had a fallout with Sharma and he was replaced by Riteish.
Finally out in theatres, the film has been marketed as a comedy but is actually an aspiring comic-thriller. Aspiring, because it fails majorly in being a comedy, and gives us little thrilling experience. Bank Chor is director Bumpy’s first film.
Champak (Riteish), Gulaab (Bhuvan Arora) and Genda (Vikram Thapa) are three novice robbers trying to rob a bank. However, they happen to chose the wrong day and bank for their attempt and end up being caught — amidst a larger scam. Will they be held accountable for the bigger crime? Are they really as innocent and stupid as they seem? But the larger question is, will the gang entertain the audience?
The answer is no, they won’t.
To begin with, the story is lame and the characters plain stupid. Even the background characters, like the hostages in the bank, show traits of being completely insane. When in a hostage-like situation, how can people not be concerned about their own well-being and keep helping the criminal? A few comic characters showing concern about “bathroom facilities” is understandable, if they otherwise wish to be set free. But an entire group of 28 people, being held at gunpoint, helping the armed robber cannot be justified. Both the robbers and the hostages are way too trusting and end up harming each other in the attempt to help.
The screenplay and characters reek of laziness on the part of the writer. While Champak is supposed to be a strong believer of vastu shashtra, Genda and Gulaab are two hot-headed losers, but except for a few dialogues, there is no assertion of these characteristics. The trio keeps arguing about Delhi Vs Mumbai (Champak is a proud Marathi manoo while Gulaab and Genda are rude, in-your-face Delhi men).
It is sad that the film fails to strike a chord even with a widely popular aspect. Champak wants to give a miss to the stash of cash under Bappa, an idol of Lord Ganesh, but the Delhi guys say, “Humare yaha bappa nahi aate, toh hum utha lete hain ye paise”.
Perhaps the filmmaker wanted to draw attention to the futility of the north-south divide, but he fails miserably at doing that smartly.
There are, nonetheless, some smart twists in the plot but the thrill lasts for a short span and fizzles out under the lame script. The film gains pace and gets interesting towards the end with a few more twists thrown in. But the cheeky references to Dhoom (a YRF production) kill half the charm.
It is sad to see Riteish Deshmukh in the film because he is such a waste of talent. After powerful performances in Lai Bhaari, Ek Villain and Banjo, it is a shame to see him in this joke of a film. Riteish has mostly managed to shine in the worst of films — he has the legendary Humshakals to his credit — but even he fails to rise above the mundane and lame film.
It is only in the last few minutes that we see the Ritiesh we know — but then, he is mocking himself in those shots. Vivek Oberoi, on his part, tries his best to play the supercop (an honest and smart CBI officer) who has two pistols and a whiskey bottle under his belt. Sample some of his sadist dialogues:
“Is desh me 150 crore ki abaadi hai, 100-150 kam bhi ho gae to mujhe koi farak nahi padta.”
“Media kuch din hungama karegi fir India-Pakistan ka agla match cover karne mein busy ho jaegi.”
It is best not to comment on the acting of Vikram, Bhuvan and Rhea Chakraborty (who plays a reporter) as the script offers little scope for them.
Eventually, Bank Chor proves to be the poor man’s version of Dhoom. Only, this one leans on trying to be more comic than thriller and fails at doing so. Completely avoidable.
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