99 - Review

99 - the experience

I met a very close friend after a long time. I stayed over at his place..and we decided to watch Angels and Demons..15 minutes into the film, we looked at each other and said "we cannot waste our reunion after 1 year with this poor excuse for a film"
Luckily we had another DVD - 99.

15 minutes into the film, again we looked at each other, this time the look was – read the review and find out

99 is about two crooks – Kunal Khemu and Cyrus Broacha who make their buck duplicating mobile phone SIM cards. Soon they are on the run from the police and in the process manage to damage a Mercedes belonging to a local don (Mahesh Manjrekar).

Indebted to this don, they are forced to work for him, and are sent to Delhi to collect money from one of Manjrekar’s debtors. Unfortunately, this man happens to be Boman Irani who has such an awful habit of losing money while gambling that his wife has left him for that reason. Soon, Boman Irani, Kunal Khemu and Cyrus Broacha are on the run from all sorts of people who owe them money.

Sounds like a typical Guy Rithchie film eh? You’re spot on. Two stupid wannabe crooks, a few dangerous criminals/gangsters, lot of money involved, and you have a wild ride.

99, with its tongue in cheek humour, interesting and hilarious situations is an entertaining experience indeed. But what sets it apart, and takes it above ordinary comedies with similar themes is its various subplots, its connection with the Hansie Cronje cricket match fixing scandal, and the fact that it is so beautifully able to take you back to the year 1999-2000. T

Having grown up in the subcontinent, I loved each and every bit that 99 captures about Delhi in 1999.

The coming of those new Nokia phones without antennas, mobile phones with bad signals, having to go outside the house to talk properly, those snake games on those Nokia phones. To their credit, the directors are also able to take Delhi back to 99 when it came to outdoor locations.

99 is a true homage to Guy Ritchie’s capers classics of the 90s, because it is an original film. It is able to take little things from Delhi and Mumbai and incorporate that with Guy Ritchie’s style and the result is one refreshing film.

Performances from Kunal Khemu, Mahesh Manjrekar and Boman Irani were first rate. Cyrus Broacha was horribly under used. Soha looked stiff and uncomfortable. Simone Singh on the other hand was a surprise. Amit Mistry was a revelation.

Its been a while since I felt this good watching an Indian film. The last time was a few months back – Dev D. 99 is the kind of film that gives me a feeling of satisfaction and fulfilment.

Getting back to that look we shared 15 minutes into the film, the look was “ wow we just got lucky, this film is bloody brilliant”.