Velle, Review: R4=Raw, rash, rant, rabble

When you have to wait for an hour to see a film like Velle, it is like rubbing salt into wounds that have yet to be inflicted. That it lasts a mere two hours and five minutes is among the saving graces of the film. Touting a poster that says ‘phasey’ (meaning ‘phansey’ or trapped) and a middle finger rising up, you should probably be able to guess what the film might be like. After seeing the film, you will still not have any idea about what the title means. Does it stand for ‘a mad/crazy bunch’ or a gang of a closely-bonded friends? On Google, one finds an entry that translates the word as ‘ichha mitr’ (chosen friends). Let’s stick to that. So, dear velle, if you brave it to the cinema halls to watch this ‘caper’ about double kidnapping, you might actually want to be caught napping, but you will be denied even that luxury by the loud dialogue, loud songs and incessant, merciless, loudest pounding of the background score.

Here is the background of the story. A group of three sworn friends are good for nothings and duds at school. All appear to be in their twenties, and none of them has passed the Std. XII examination. They hardly attend school, and when they do, they create riots. At the exams, their marks are in the range of 2-3%. They are very ‘creative’ while attempting exam papers, drawing a map of India in a science paper. One of them, Rahul, the leader of the pack, has a father who is a property dealer and is easily cheated out of sums of money that range in thousands, time and again, by his good for nothing son. The other two are weirdos that talk and walk and act as if they were mentally challenged, but always keep their self-interest supreme.

Into the lives of this R3 gang (all their names begin with R) comes Riya, the school principal’s daughter, who lost her mother as a kid, is a dullard at studies and now nurses ambitions of learning dancing, something her disciplinarian father opposes. To fund her fees, the gang, now re-named R4, decides to kidnap Riya, the idea coming from Riya herself. A ransom of Rs. 8 lakh is to be demanded from her father, RS, which would cover her fees and leave rupees one lakh each for the three gang members. Her father gives in, and hands over the money, but asks his police officer friend Rajni to investigate. He draws a blank. Shortly afterwards, a tuition teacher is badly beaten-up by the same gang, and they get away with that. What nobody could have foreseen is to follow: a real gang of criminals kidnaps Riya and wants Rs. 10 lakh as ransom. What is worse, the gang has possession of Riya’s bag, which contains the eight lakh ransom recovered from her father, but they don’t know it yet.

Not having seen his earlier films, Chidi Balla, Laal Rang and LoveShhuda, I can only conjecture that these films must contain some compelling reasons for Ajay Devgnn to produce a film based on his script. After a deliberate false start, which fits in after half the film, he brings in the character of a film script-writer who is an aspiring director too. Named Rishi, he is narrating a subject to a prospective producer, who belittles him and says that he will produce the film if Rishi gets top heroine Rohini to agree to do the film. Rishi walks away. Rishi, who has written at least two successful films, credited to a man named Kumar, is disheartened, and goes back home, somewhere in Uttar Pradesh, where he has one pal.

Besides some scenes with Rishi and Rohini, and a clever ploy used by Riya to escape from the abductors, there is almost nothing to commend about the writing. Just an interesting premise, double kidnapping (the same person getting kidnapped twice), probably inspired by the Hollywood suspense thriller, Double Jeopardy, is not enough to hold a film together. Obviously, he has a fixation for the letter R. As many as 17 characters, or more, have names that begin with R. Even the beggar, who is never addressed by his name (who would know a beggar by name?) is called Rumi, no less. I wonder if it has been rated ‘R’ by the certifying authority in any country. That would be the crowning glory.

What was lacking in the script could have been, at least partly, made good by some capable direction. Here too, the film is found wanting. A behind-the-scenes production man, Deven Munjal, in his debut film, is raw as the Rawhide Kid. It is an odd cast that he has assembled, and one hesitates to call it an ensemble cast. Scenes often go nowhere, exchanges of dialogue are mostly rapid-fire, matching cutting points and mise-en-scène are conspicuous by their absence. Flash-back has been used a couple of times, but to no great effect. It appears that the entire sub-plot of the writer-narrator was brought in as an after-thought, since the film could not stand at all on the four legs of the R4. The move has succeeded, but only minimally.

Can Abhay Deol, as Rishi, the writer, save the film? No, but he gives it a good shot. Does the sculpted face of Mouni Roy (Naagin, GOLD, K.G.F: Chapter 1), as Rohini, launch a 1,000 ships? No, but she is okay overall. Does the grandson of Dharmendra Singh Deol, nephew of Abhay Deol and son of Sunny Deol, Karan, make good what he lacked in Pal Dil Ke Paas (2019). No. Without getting into comparisons, it is loud and clear that this cherubic, chubby-cheeked boy needs to work hard on both, his diction, and his acting skills. Does Anya Singh have the screen presence that will light it up? No. But then, it is a poorly written role. Does Zakir Hussain, an actor with a significant range, fit the Principal’s role like the proverbial glove. I would like to say yes, but well, maybe.

Visshesh Tiwari as Raju and Savant Singh Premi as Rambo are no different from the hackneyed hangers-on seen in at least 200 Hindi films so far. Rajesh Kumar as the stocky police officer Rajni who keeps yawning all the time and whose telephone battery charge keeps running out, gets one redeeming scene, with Zakir Hussain, in a car. That’s just about it for him. As Rahul’s father, Ravikant, Mahesh Thakur, who has been in front of the camera in all types of productions and roles, goes over-the-top, no holds barred. It does seem that he is trying to instill life in a dead role, but the role might well have been a beanpole. The homeless beggar, Sanjay Kota, who is mentally challenged, to boot, knows how to use a mobile phone and steals one. When caught, he runs like an Olympic sprinter. I beg your pardon! Also in the cast are Anurag Arora, Shaurya Dutt, Chirag Mehra, Manohar Pandey, Fareed Ahmed, Diwakar Solanki and Himanshu Srivasta.

Music by Yug Bhusal, Rochak Kohli, Sohail Sen is pleasing in parts but fails to rise above the level of the proceedings. Cinematography by Anshul Chobey is passable and my greatest sympathies go to editor Dharmendra Sharma. Such misadventures reach the screen largely due to the efforts of the editor, for it is at that stage that the film has to be salvaged. Sharma could not salvage much, which is regrettable.

There is a Zoom group called Nostalgiaanaa R4, which plays a selection of curated Hindi film music to its members. In their case, R4 stands for Rewind’s Retro Radio Revival. The group has recently changed its name from Rewind to Nostalgiaanaa. While the above R4 is doing yeoman’s service to the cause of selected film songs, Velle’s R4 could easily expand into Raw, Rash, Rant and Rabble. You are advised to keep away, unless you want to be a ‘rabble rouser’. Velle is a remake of a South Indian film. It might have fared better if, instead of remaking, it had been dubbed in Hindi.

Rating: * ½

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P67jUS62Cc