The Shaukeens

Filmy Review

As a rule, I always read the synopsis of a film before going to the theatre to watch it. This time around when I booked my tickets for 'The Shaukeens', I decided to improvise a bit. I went to my regular movie library (Yes, in the world of Torrentz, I am probably the only specimen who still believes in buying/renting DVD's to watch movies) to pick up the original Shaukeen. This film from 1982 was directed by Basu Chatterjee and had a phenominal line up of actors - Ashok Kumar, Utpal Dutt, A.K.Hangal, Rati Agnihotri and Mithun Chakraborty.

The plot of Shukeen (1982) was extremely funny yet simple! Three lecherous old men decide to have some fun in their twilight years. They hire a driver who convinces them that Goa is the place for such pleasures in life. Little do they know that the driver has his own motives of going to Goa. His beloved girlfriend stays there and he couldn't have got a better opportunity than this to meet her (An all expenses paid trip!). The old men and the driver arrive in Goa. It is here that the film peaks and we have one hilarious situation after other when the three men fall for the drivers girlfriend without knowing who she is!

High on the original Shaukeen, I ventured into the screening of Abhishek Sharma's 'The Shaukeens'. The flm started and I was glad to see that the writers Tigmanshu Dhulia and Sai Kabir had done well to retain the basic plot of the film of three lecherous men and their desire of having some fun in old age. Here the three old men were - Anupam Kher, Piyush Mishra and Annu Kapoor. With such talented actors, the film can't go wrong, i thought to myself. Then the director started springing surprises one after another. To begin with, the 3 men decide to go to Mauritius instead of Goa. So what? I questioned myself. It's 2014 after all and Mauritius looks far more grand and opulent than Goa, I convinced myself. The three men reach Mauritius and as luck would have it, the land lady Ahana (Lisa Haydon) of the house they were staying in, cuts short her trip and comes back much before than planned. The men are more than happy to have her back as she turns out to be just the kind of girl they were wanting to hook up with.

Soon the three oldies start on their mission and are seen doing all sorts of things to impress the leggy lass. Soon they realize that impressing Ahana wouldn't be all that difficult as she is a huge fan of 'Akshay Kumar' who happens to be shooting in Mauritius. Quite convenient I thought at first but soon I remembered, 'cinematic liberty' is a birth right of every director. I will not look for 'logic' anymore, I brainwashed myself as I saw three men trying their best to convince Akshay Kumar to be a part of their plan in order to impress Ahana.

As the film came to an end my mind was under my control. It asked no questions, it demanded no explanations. It was as blank as a clean slate!

The next day when I went back to my movie library to return the Shaukeen DVD, the manager there couldn't resist and started talking about the original Shaukeen and how it remains one of his favourites. I asked him if he had watched the remake and he said that he didn't want to, as he felt that a bad remake will take away the memories he cherished of the original for so many years. We then spoke about the original for the next 30 minutes.

While making my way back home I realized that it was the simplicity of the original that worked for it back then and continues to do so even now. It was the genuis of Basu Chatterjee that steered the film towards 'Class' rather than 'Crass', inspite of the main plot of three old men leching on a young girl.

'The Shaukeens' lacks the touch of Basu Chatterjee and the charisma of Utpal Dutt, Ashok Kumar and A.K.Hangal. Abhishek Sharma could have done far better..or maybe not! 'The Shaukeens' is yet another example of how one should not tinker with classics and just let them be.

Well, thanks to Abhishek Sharma's remake I got an opportunity to watch this old gem of a movie, Shaukeen.

Filmy Verdict - 'The Shaukeens' is just about a decent film if you don't compare it with the original. For those who have seen the original Shukeen, this one is surely going to be a huge dissapointment. 

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