BESHARAM MOVIE REVIEW

During the course of Besharam, after the audience is let in on the frivolousness of Ranbir’s character portrayal, Ranbir’s Bubli questions his friend Tittu if Besharam is intended as a compliment or a reprimand. “Besharam compliment hota hai,” Tittu tells him reassuringly. Abhinav Kashyap’s Besharam is made in that spirit and sticks true to its tagline – “Na Sammaan Ka Moh, Na Apmaan Ka Bhay." Yes, the movie never craves for your respect nor does it have any fragment of guilt for humiliation. 

It revels in stereotypes, tries to make vulgar jokes appear cool, and even makes a few rape jokes without batting an eyelid. But in the end, it is the Kapoor family that holds you up till the end - notwithstanding the exasperation that seemingly sets in as the movie goes on and on and a bit more predictably. But seriously, who doesn’t want to like Ranbir, whose striking resemblance to his mother Neetu only adds up to his appeal and adorability. Not to mention, the matter-of-fact cop-couple Rishi and Neetu complementing each other so well with their qualities – one’s level-headedness with other’s greed.

The movie begins with a rudimentary lesson of hawala, rather deceptively. That, however, is not what entirely the movie is about. It is a love story of a do-gooder, a time-tested-worked-and-hence-used-gazillion-times formula of a small time criminal falling in love and working towards achieving the same.

So despite him mooning you in the shower treating you to the glimpses of his butt-crack, peeing in the public and appearing lamely at the girl’s office, whom he has met just once, to propose to her and rattling off the names he picked for their ‘honewale bachche’, Ranbir simply doesn’t get on your nerves. Perhaps it is that goofy smile, his uninhibited narcissism or his inveterate dialogue-baazi that renders his character a certain charm.

Pallavi doesn’t make her high-flying character Tara Sharma look like a bimbette – which is usually what happens to characters in such movies. She has every chance to emerge as the thinking man’s Katrina Kaif what with her confident and skillful temperament, dialogue delivery and restrained theatrics - she has an air of the girl who knows what she is doing.

If Ranbir is the hero of the movie, Rishi and Neetu are the patriarch and matriarch of this enterprise. Rishi is effortlessly endearing as the inspector, endlessly chided by his wife head constable Bulbul. Needless to mention, together they make an endearing couple and thanks to the dialogues, their interaction with Ranbir doesn’t allow a moment of tedium.

As if knowing that Javed Jaffrey’s villain had the potential to turn hysterical, Abhinav restricts his character. Amitosh Nagpal as Titu is another character worth mentioning.  Talking of stereotypes, there are way too many songs and Lalit Pandit’s music is often reminiscent of times passed by. The song Dil Ka Jo Haal Hai, especially utilizes a tune that is often heard and forgotten.

Other than using the name Chulbul, Abhinav Kashyap’s Dabangg hangover is also visible in the movie’s staunch devotion to stereotypes.  It does get wearisome and predictable but the screenplay is fairly taut – though it could use with some editing for length.

With the bright costumes, do-gooder hero, a predictable love angle and the quintessential villain who is all weirdly suited up, Besharam has the essence of an eighties-entertainer that almost wants to make gold/silver pants and velvet blouses look cool. It religiously follows the template of commercial movies since time started but there are redeeming qualities to it – prominent of them being the movie’s lead.

As for Ranbir, you've to admit that any actor has to balance out his career between serious and light movies. But one only hopes that Ranbir does not assume the movie’s reception to acceptance and make more such movies that portray him stuffing his crotch with socks to make an ‘impression’ among the ladies. Besharam or no, that’s just plain filthy.

If you are someone who asks logical questions and seeks explanations for a movie’s loopholes, Besharam is not for you. But if you are smart enough to answer those questions with gems like 'if that's the case then there's no movie,' then Besharam is for you.