Yes I went all ready to count the number of kisses in the film ‘coz poor Emraan Hashmi has been labeled as a #SerialKisser! Not his fault though, he just followed directions in his previous films, but Emraan has evolved as an actor and is trying to do more meaningful films now. Must say his performance in Why Cheat India proves that he’s capable of doing a lot more than just kissing.
Directed by Soumik Sen, Why Cheat India is a story based on the scams that take place in the name of education in our country. It’s an insight into what goes on in those so called coaching centers and entrance exams.The film tells us the bitter truth about our education system.
Emraan plays Rakesh Singh aka Rocky who runs a scam in the name of a coaching class. He’s a small town guy of a middle class family trying to make a quick buck. What’s interesting is that there are many subplots in the film but there is no confusion as all of them are interwoven. The main plot is about a bright student, Satyendra Dubey/Sattu (Ammar Taalwala),who comes from a small town in Uttar Pradesh and is the typical Indian stereotypical ‘ghar ka chiraag’. His family has put all their money at stake for his education and the poor guy is burdened with that. He has an older sister, Nupur (Shreya Dhanwanthary) whom he dotes on and the two share a very close bond. Sattu manages to clear his engineering exam and becomes the talk of the town. It’s what happens after he catches Rocky’s attention that moves the story forward.
The many surprising twists in the film makes it interesting and you kind of ignore the camera angles, the many out of focus shots and also some of the high speed shots. The slow motion action sequence inside the movie theater where Rocky bashes up some goons looks amateurish and seems as if Emraan’s thinking in his mind..”Ok…1,2,3 punch…pause …1,2,3 punch again!” all along while doing the action.
But all said and done, the film is engaging, the characters, including all the supporting cast are brilliant. I especially loved Shreya’s performance as Nupur. Emraan too looks absolutely convincing as Rakesh Singh. A special mention to the lady who plays Emraan’s wife, she was entertaining and had perfect comic timing. She plays a typical small town wife to perfection.The best was the scene where she’s come to meet Rocky in jail and asks the jailer to get some plates to serve food! The comic punches in the film was another thing that worked for the film.
The film gives a loud message to all parents and education institutions and educationists in our country and is a must watch for all of them including students. However, what I didn’t agree with was the fact that they’ve justified doing drugs. In no way is it ok to do drugs just because you are burdened with studies or stressed in life. There are plenty of other ways to deal with it. Also the fact that they’ve glorified cheating by giving an illogical explanation of a difficult past which made the protagonist take the wrong route and made him look like a hero.
But the film is definitely an eye opener for all the parents who push their kids to perform well, and good grades and also a message to our education system as to why it needs to make a change.
