Genre: Comedy
Director: Chandrakant Kulkarni
Cast: Mandira Bedi, Eijaz Khan, Anupam Kher, Mahesh Manjrekar
Storyline: Anil Kumble has bowled a maiden over, and she has a tough time juggling cricket with cupid.
Bottomline: Mandira shouldn’t step out without noodle straps
I knew there was a good enough reason why cricketers don’t become film stars in our country despite the huge fan following. Despite all that experience with endorsements.
Good old Kumble finds himself on a sticky wicket and Mandira Bedi’s cheerleading minus the outfits is a no-show.
So, are you game to see Mandira Bedi in ‘Poore Kapde’ is the real question you must ask yourself because obviously how good can a movie be with no real sense of conflict, a completely understated attitude to drama, zero humour (okay, except for that one constant joke on herself that develops into the punchline for the film) and an underwhelming, stilted performance by the leading lady.
An Ugly Betty look alone isn’t enough to register this beti from the middle class family who finds the idea of going on ‘date-wait’ too modern, especially when you can see her tats. Yeah, her nape tattoo peeps out carelessly from the back of her blouse and yet, she insists we believe she is Meera Achrekar and not Mandira Bedi.
But for a few puns on cricketing jargon going over the top, there are too many slips (and none that you would associate with Mandira) and no fine legs. And the result makes you wish Navjot Singh Siddhu wrote the lines instead.
Sample a saree-clad Mandira spelling out her predicament to the guy who’s interested in her, despite her psycho behaviour. She says: “You will always be a non-striker in my life.” Does this mean he lost his mid-wicket?
Seriously, nothing happens. They just keep establishing her character again and again till the end. We know she’s a cricket fan from scene one. There’s no real need to say it another sixty times before the climax spells out the conflict.
The filmmaker wants to keep it realistic and subtle but then suddenly feels the need to slap a larger than life third act, to give it the romantic comedy spin.
With hardly any excitement, this Mandira versus Anupam match is a Test heading towards nowhere.
You just can’t make any movie on cricket work without understanding the simplicity of the sport.
Six balls make an over. This one takes over 120 dull minutes before it is. Over.
MADRAS INK. 
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