A bunch of men in black are brooding. A don, we learn a little later that his name is Bob Marley, is mourning the loss of his brother. Elsewhere, an intelligence chief (Kabir Bedi) says, ‘Let’s kill Bob Marley!’ In his grave, the Jamaican singer must be wondering why on earth has his name been dragged into this film and what harm had he done to have Theda Singh (Balakrishna) hunt him down.
In this Puri Jagannadh directed film, Theda Singh is approached by cops to take on Marley. Theda Singh is so ‘theda’ that somewhere in between a fight sequence, a baddie wonders if he’s a comedian or a villain. No one knows, because Theda Singh as characterised by Puri is unfathomable. At one point, he randomly barges into a lawyer’s (Prudhvi) house and takes it over by a game of head or tails. The lawyer tries to protest and is told he would be booked under Section 101 (this is Balakrishna’s 101st film, just in case we forget). Theda Singh proudly announces that he’s just out of Tihar jail and even Charles Sobhraj used to be his jail mate. Theda is wooing women at a dance bar in one sequence and in another, talks at length about respecting women.
The one liners don’t stop. ‘Padhi mandiki pettina maname, nalugurini kottina maname’... There’s also the comparison of Balakrishna to Jungle Book’s Sher Khan.
Certain films fall into the category of being so bad that it’s good, in the sense that it’s a gold mine for those who create memes, gifs and spoofs. This time, maybe Puri and Balakrishna decided to save everyone meme creators the trouble and made a film that feels like a spoof.
Even Whatsapp forwards have been woven into the dialogues. There’s a running joke about why Indian women pray for the same husband in seven births — apparently women work so much to train a man that they hope they have to deal with the same, trained, man again and not someone new. Musskan Sethi says she’s observing Karwa Chauth for Balakrishna and gets told this. Oh by the way, Musskan is the sister of Shriya Saran (she’s gorgeous), an investigative journalist whose story unfolds through a flashback in Portugal.
The flashback is another experience in itself, if you can sit through lines like ‘you are black and I am black’. Take a deep breath, look at visuals of Portugal and wait for it all to be over.
You laugh with the film, at the film and also at yourself for having to see it. Paisa Vasool ends with a Jai Balayya card.
Didn’t like it? It doesn’t matter. Like Balakrishna says in the film, it’s for fans and family. ‘Outers’ not allowed. Go figure.
Paisa Vasool
Cast: Balakrishna, Shriya Saran, Musskan Sethi
Direction: Puri Jagannadh
Story line: Balakrishna chases a don called Bob Marley. Yes, you read that right.