F.A.L.T.U

saw F.A.L.T.U in a multiplex located next to a clutch of private technical institutes. The theatre felt like a crowded, noisy college canteen and the audience erupted in collective frenzy when their current anthem, Party abhi baaki hai, began to play on screen. As a film, F.A.L.T.U is downright mediocre, is little more than a celebration of silliness. However, it seems to have reached out to its target audience—the teens—very cleverly at that. It’s about a bunch of young losers and non-achievers. What works is that these characters, their faces, the attitude, the jokes, the banter is the kind a certain section of young audience seems to easily identify with. For the rest it’s utterly infantile. The situations, the dialogue, the acting are loud and hammy. In the second half, the fun dips as the film addresses the issue of ‘alternate education’, how your hobby should become your profession. However, it overlooks the phenomenon of the mushrooming of private institutes (often not recognised) that charge a bomb for fees, promise a lot but leave their graduates with few job options. Chandan Roy Sanyal, the Mikhail of Kaminey, packs a punch even in this farce, but Rameshwari gets wasted in an inconsequential role.