Opened: 28 July 2017
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Ileana D'Cruz, Athiya Shetty, Neha Sharma, Ratna Pathak Shah
Director: Anees Bazmee
Producers: Sony Pictures
Rating: ★★★

It should be said that it takes commendable effort to come up with a multi-starrer comedy in an era where hard-hitting films and single hero stories are dominating the scenes. Anees Bazmee on the other hand, a master in his craft, knows his comedy and knows how to treat them in the right manner (cases in point; No Entry, Singh is King, Welcome et al.).

Mubarakan treads a similar path – it’s essentially a series of misunderstandings, at the core of which is Kartar Singh (portrayed excellently by Anil Kapoor), in a story that revolves around twins separated at birth – Charan and Karan (brought to life by Arjun Kapoor). The differences in appearance and personality are expertly handled by the director to ensure the two characters played by the same actor avoid any overlap.

The plot (yes there is one!), revolving around Charan and Karan brought up in different cities due to the death of their father and their uncle subsequently giving up each of them to different relatives across the world is mostly humdrum but entirely watchable, especially the London portion which is peppered with laugh out loud gags and tickling humour.

The script by Rajesh Chawla is surprisingly on point, and Bazmee shows his flair and experience and mostly avoids letting it all slip into inane buffoonery, but it is the performances that rescue the film with Anil Kapoor nailing it with his comic timing. The ladies while being extremely easy on the eye, are wasted (typical in this set up), while the music too has its moments and keeps the momentum of the film going.

In summary, the film isn’t a complete washout thanks to AK senior and the script probably should have rested more on his acting chops rather than relying on Arjun’s double role ­– if that were the case, the end result while not terrible, would have been far more enticing than it actually is.