No Problem

Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, Anil Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Sushmita Sen, Kangana Ranaut
Directed by Anees Bazmee
Rating: *

hat can you say of a film in which a chimpanzee (a fake one at that) is the deus ex machina? Where a chimp’s fart resolves all the complications? It betrays a filmmaker’s desperation to bring on the laughs. No wonder, No Problem remains an entirely laugh-less film. Bazmee’s previous comedies—No Entry, Welcome, Singh Is Kingg—may have been as aesthetically challenged but did manage to entertain a large section in their own bawdy way. However, here the characters, plot, gags, jokes, dialogues, just about nothing makes you smile, leave alone laugh. Besides, some significant scenes get uncomfortably racist and downright sexist. The attempts to take potshots at the US are feeble and flat. One crucial mad element—two bullets stuck in Anil Kapoor’s stomach that keep tickling his insides—could’ve been used as a persistent gag through the film but Bazmee forgets about it entirely. Set in South Africa, the film is about two small-time crooks (Sanjay, Akshaye) who rob Paresh Rawal’s bank. Anil Kapoor plays a bumbling cop whose wife (Sushmita) suffers from split personality disorder. There are some diamonds, a few big-time crooks and Kangana’s indecipherable Hindi. Bring on the subtitles!