Movie Review: Selfiee

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C

An okay comedy-drama from India. 

What really works about this film is how it handles the two main characters. This film involves an ordinary guy who idolizes a major Bollywood actor. He becomes very excited when he gets a chance to meet his hero, but due to a misunderstanding the two soon find themselves in a heated fight that creates a media frenzy. In this type of scenario it would have been very easy for the filmmakers to make one of these characters simply in the right and the other in the wrong. However there is a bit more to these characters than that. Both of them are often in the wrong with their actions and jumping to accusations towards the other without making sure that these accusations are true. Yet neither of them is simply mean to be mean to one another. They both have their reasons for all of their actions. While we may not always agree with their actions, we always understand and relate to their reasons and wonder if we might have done the same in each of their shoes. The relationship between the two is also very well handled. I love how no matter how antagonistic the ordinary person can feel towards the star, he never completely loses the side of him that idolizes his hero. I love this little touch and it goes a long way to make this character more likable. This is also helped by the good chemistry between Akshay Kumar and Emraan Hashmi, who simply play off each other quite well. 

The humor can be hit and miss here. There were definitely some moments that made me laugh out loud, but unfortunately there was also often times too much time between these great laughs. The time between the best laughs in this movie are often full of gags that simply fall flat. Few of these gags are outright terrible or made me groan, but they didn't make me laugh either. There are less songs here than are present in many Bollywood movies, but the song numbers that are here are fun and pleasant.

This film does have quite a few flaws though. One is that it is simply much longer than it needs to be. It is nearly two and a half hours which is simply too long for a movie with such a simple plot and there are times when it can really drag. The last act especially seems to go on too long. Speaking of the last act, during this last act the film leaves behind all sense of believability and simply becomes too over the top for the dramatic part of this movie to work. This over-the-top craziness could have worked in a Mel Brooks style farce, where nothing is meant to be taken seriously. However this film instead tries to still have many dramatic moments during this last act, which are simply impossible to take seriously because we can no longer believe a thing that is happening. This movie also seems like it is trying to provide some sort of commentary on celebrity culture but danged if I know just what it is trying to say. This film not only doesn't say anything new about celebrity culture but it doesn't really say anything at all. 

This is far from a great movie but there is definitely enough that works here to make for a nice trip to the movies.