Cast – Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi, Rhea Chakraborty, Bhuvan Arora, Sahil Vaid, Vikram Thapa, Baba Sehgal
- Directed by – Bumpy
- Produced by – Ashish Patil
- Dialogues by – Ishita Moitra Udhwani (Dialogues)
- Screenplay by – Bumpy, Baljeet Singh Marwah, Omkar Sane, Ishita Moitra Udhwani
- Story by – Baljeet Singh Marwah, Bumpy
- Cinematography – Adil Afsar
- Edited by – Saurabh Kulkarni
- Production House – Y-Films
- Duration – 2 hours 9 minutes
- Genre – Comedy
Plot
The film opens up to a bank robbery gone wrong – wrong for the Bank Chor. Champak Chandrakant Chiplunkar (Riteish Deshmukh), a vaastu abiding Mumbaikar, has enlisted the help of Dilliwalas – Gulab (Bhuvan Arora) and Genda (Vikram Thapa) to loot a bank. The three are quite obviously simpletons and goof up as the scene outside the bank starts to simmer. CBI cop Amjad Khan (Vivek Oberoi) and TV journalist Gayatri Ganguly (Rhea Chakraborty) try to decipher the hostage situation before initiating action. The twist in the tale is brought by the inside man (quite literally) Sahil Vaid. The rest of the movie is spent trying to figure out the political plot behind the bank robbery and finding out who the real bad guys are.
A Complete Whydunit
Bank Chor is a complete Whydunit. Yes, we mean Whydunit, not Whodunit. We kept asking ourselves a number of ‘whys’ throughout the 129 minutes we were in the screening hall.
Why would a director pick a movie without a story line?
Why would seasoned actors such as Riteish and Vivek agree to something that is likely to doom their careers?
Why did the filmmakers hire an editorial team?
Why would an obviously talented actor such as Sahil Vaid waste his time on a role that starts out with promise and fizzles out pathetically?
Why release soundtracks that will never be added to the film itself?
Why was Baba Seghal on screen at all?
Why would one call such a torture, a ‘comedy’?
Why would anyone pay to watch this film?
Why have we been wasting our time watching, and worse, reviewing this flick?
Too many whys make a Whydunit, right?
But since we’ve watched the film and can’t undo it, let’s take a look at the performances.
Riteish is right earnest about a story line that is going nowhere. His humor pieces have now become trite and his attempts to make us laugh are now quite vexing if anything. Rhea looks stunning in an eye-catching brown leather skirt but comes across as a bimbo and not as a budding journalist. The situational humour (or lack thereof) may not have been terrible if the film had been promoted as a thriller. Instead, Bank Chor turned out to be a torture of the worst kind for its audience.
With the writers falling back on Delhi Vs. Mumbai stereotypes and dialogues such as “GBMLR” (supposed to be an acronym for Ganpati Bappa Morya, Let’s Rock) you know that the film is really, truly dead. Vivek manages to look good as a top CBI cop but his character comes across as another inflated toy with no substance.
The second half is slightly better paced and watchable, thanks largely to Sahil Vaid but this character too turns lukewarm by the end. And each time you think that the film is thankfully over, there is a little bit more. Makes you want to laugh. Or cry. Or curl up and die.
Y-Films ventures get worse with each release and Bumpy may have done a great job with MTV India Roadies but films, is totally different ball game, one we hope he keeps off .
Soundtracks
Hum Hain Bank Chor
- Music – Kailash Kher
- Singers – Kailash Kher, Ambili (Rap)
- Duration – 3:34
Tashreef
- Music – Rochak Kohli
- Singer – Rochak Kohli
- Duration – 3:12
BC Rap Knockout: Mumbai Vs. Delhi
- Music – Shamir Tandon
- Singers – Vijendar, Naezy and Pardhaan
- Duration – 3:47
Jai Baba Bankchor
- Music – Rochak Kohli
- Singers – Nakash Aziz
- Duration – 2:37
Our Verdict
Must watch but only if you fancy a great nap in the cool, dark confines of an almost empty theatre. Or really do not know how to spend your time this weekend. The only part that you may be really interested in is the final scene where Riteish and his “accomplices” have a hearty laugh over this film becoming a blockbuster.
Rating
1 stars
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