'Pagalpanti' review: A madcap movie with a shallow patriotic stance

When you go in for what has been touted as a mindless comedy and were enjoying it too, mind you, only to be hit by a dose of misplaced patriotism towards the end, you are flummoxed. Wait, didn't you pay money to watch an Anees Bazmee movie???
Pagalpanti stars John Abraham (Raj Kishore), Arshad Warsi (Junky) and Pulkit Samrat (Chandu) as three out-of-luck men who are out to make money.
Raj Kishore, on top, has been hit by a spot of bad luck which rubs off on everyone he comes in contact with. So when Chandu and Junky's business venture literally goes up in flames when they join hands with Raj, the trio decide to stick together till they can recover the money.
When they are recruited by two London dons Raj (Saurabh Shukla at his comic best) and his brother-in-law Wifi (a dapper Anil Kapoor) the bumbling trio manage to bring further losses to their bosses.
Ileana D'Cruz (Sanjana) and Kriti Kharbanda (Janvi) play Raj Kishore and Chandu's love interests and do a fairly decent job though all they are called upon to do is screech hysterically and look pretty. Urvashi Rautela (Kavya) who turns up as a 'ghost' towards the end of the movie also follows the script to the T - which means look gorgeous and yes, dance seductively.
There is a lot of slapstick comedy to make you laugh out loud. Though admittedly, the laughs are a bit slow in coming and far in between. But like the makers and the lead cast had repeatedly said, if you just go to watch the movie as a mindless comedy, you are bound to enjoy it.
It is when Bazmee tries to wear his patriotism on his sleeve through the introduction of the character called Niraj Modi (based on the actual Nirav Modi) and makes Raj Kishore mouth a "patriotic' speech about how people like Modi have looted India and needs to be held accountable for their action that the comedy goes off track. If the makers were so bothered about the misuse of money, they probably shouldn't have spent millions on blowing up vehicles and car chases and set the movie in London...
But if you are a fan of Anees Bazmee's brand of comedy, and enjoy physical humour, you will no doubt have a riot at the cinemas. Pagalpanti, as the makers promise, is a movie that can be enjoyed by the whole family, since the comedy for the better part is clean. Just don't expect the laughs to last long. 
Pagalpanti
Director: Anees Bazmee
Cast: John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Ileana D'Cruz, Kriti Kharbanda, Arshad Wasi, Urvashi Rautela, Saurab Shukla, Pulkit Samrat
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars 
ambica@khaleejtimes.com