I’m sure there is a decent following for the JD Majethia-Aatish Kapadia brand of comedy / humour. But then the following could be for the generation who loved watching ‘Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai’ then and binge watching now too (like this author) and even ‘Khichdi’ when it aired as a sitcom. In 2010 the producer director took the plunge and scaled Khichdi from a sitcom to ‘Khichdi: The Movie’. Guess it was still fine when the population had little choice.
Cut to 2023, more than a decade after the ‘Khichdi’ first installment, things have changed dramatically, the audience who were young then have grown older. The youth of today is exposed to enormous amount of content available from across the globe in all the genres, then what tempted the makers to dish out a two hour feature length film with such a wierd title ‘Khichdi 2: Mission Paanthukhistan’.
The title itself hints what level the makers have moved to – ‘Paanthukhistan’ – difficult to even comprehend / imagine such a title to remember and talk about it.
Still, in the name of watching a comedy / humour based content could have attracted some audience but the point is, does the film hold your attention for the next set of audience to walk in a cinema hall? Seems difficult. And the filmmakers prove the same in their initial reels. Pratik Gandhi who plays a Helicopter pilot jumps mid-air to get rid of the Khichdi gang’s silly nonsensical mindless conversation. Pratik Gandhi here represents the first set of audience. There is also Farah Khan who also gives up on the Parekhs and escapes from her job to train the Parekhs.
The Parekh family is picked up by T I A (Anant Vidhaat Sharma) for a secret mission. They are headed to a fictional place called ‘Paanthukhistan’, which is governed by a tyrant, who, in turn, is a lookalike of Praful Tulsidas Parekh (Rajeev Mehta). The task is to find and rescue a scientist (Paresh Ganatra) who has created a super lethal robot (Kiku Sharda). And their trump card is Praful who is to be switched with the real King. Can the Parekhs pull off the mission, not of rescuing the scientist but of entertaining the audience is what the film is all about.
The writing is very poor for the silly & punny dialogues and references. The narrative fails to create the right amount of humour which appears to be totally dependent on its past servings. From a writer like Aatish Kapadia, a far better platter was expected. As for the cast, they remain intact into the Parekh skins, try to repeat what they have been doing for the longest time in a more vibrant looking setup.
Overall, to be fair to the makers of the Khichdi franchise, ‘hats off’ to put in efforts to deliver something to bring laughter in times when most of the available content is dark, gloomy and full of negativity. It wouldn’t hurt to watch it once.
Movie: Khichdi 2: Mission Paanthukhistan
Directed by: Aatish Kapadia
Cast: Supriya Pathak, Rajeev Mehta , Anang Desai, Vandana Pathak, Jamnadas Majethia, Kirti Kulhari, Pratik Gandhi, Farah Khan, Kiku Sharda, Paresh Ganatra, Anant Vidhaat Sharma, Flora Saini
Duration: 2 hrs 2 mins
