Sulemani Keeda Movie Review

Story: Dulal and Moinak are struggling script-writers. As they get their first break, Dulal falls for Ruma. Who breaks up with whom?

Review: So, Sulemani Keeda is a buddy comedy that evokes the original Chashme Buddoor, dudes sharing dreams, desires and the rent. Here, Dulal (Naveen) and Moinak (Mayank) write Bollywood scripts, knocking at filmmakers' doors (in a hilarious encounter, Mahesh Bhatt offers them vaporous views but no break) while managing love, libidos and their landlord's son. The duo meets Gonzo Kapoor (Karan), ageing star-son who wants a script full of orgies and arty references. But as they start writing, Dulal falls for Ruma. With tensions brewing, whom does this keeda finally bite?



Sulemani Keeda means a niggling pain in the posterior which won't let writers sit still. The story is fresh and certain sequences - fuzzy-haired Moinak trying to pick up girls in a bookshop by sweetly smiling, "Like Wodehouse?" or Dulal learning a recipe from his mom on the phone, interrupted by an orgasm played full-volume from the next room - are hilarious. Some performances, particularly Mayank as foul-mouthed Moinak and brutal, brittle Gonzo, stand out. The dialogues - 'Delhi se aaya hai - but rape-wape nahin karta' - are fun, capturing the ironies of a city full of dudes, pseuds and some genuine talent, struggling to breathe.

But there are pointed downsides too. The biggest is the cinematography, trying different takes and so-cool shots - candy floss glistening in the wind, bhuttas, black-and-white cuts, animation involving a cat - wasting valuable time. The film rises in straight scenes focusing on pretentious Gonzo and the pitiable writers. It wobbles elsewhere, with crudities that don't amuse, with stopovers at Gonzo's farmhouse, inhabited by the censor board chief and his towel-clad date. This meandering is a pity for at times, the story captures that real-life air hanging between young people, talking of sun-signs and sex, failures and success.

Dulal's wry take - "Dialogues acche the. Film theek thi" - works here too. This keeda could've had a much sharper bite.