Shuttlecock Boys

Starring: Vijay Prateek, Aakar Kaushi, Alok Kumar, Manish Nanwani
Directed by Hemant Gaba
Rating: **

huttlecock Boys may have been made with a meagre sum of Rs 35 lakh, a bunch of first-timers for crew, unknown faces in the lead roles. It may be small in its scale and ambition. But its theme reminds one of big-budgeted mainstream efforts like a Band Baaja Baraat or a Rocket Singh, Salesman of The Year. It might not have the glamour quotient of those biggies, but much like them, it also celebrates the spirit of enterprise.

The movie is all about a bunch of middle-class, post-liberalisation youngsters who are disenchanted with the monotony and predictability of their lives and decide to branch out independently. We meet four friends, Gaurav, Manav, Pankaj and Loveleen, who love a game of badminton and want to start a business of their own. They soon zoom in on shuttle catering. Predictably, though, the going is not all that easy. The rest of the film follows them through their struggles. It takes a while to establish a connect with the characters, their highs and lows—primarily because the acting remains amateurish. But gradually one warms up to the banter.

However, the film, as a whole, just does not grab you, nor does it offer any surprises. For an indie film, it stays more banal than cutting-edge.