Welcome To New York

STORY: Recovery agent Teji and fashion designer Jinal dream of making it big in showbiz. Both win a ticket to a popular awards show in New York where they get a chance to showcase their talent. However, they soon realise that they are mere pawns in the hands of event manager Sophie, who wants to teach her boss a lesson.

REVIEW: Director Chakri Toleti in his Hindi directorial debut takes viewers behind the scenes of a popular awards show and tries to elicit laughter by laying bare the drama that is an intrinsic aspect of showbiz.

Teji (Diljith Dosanjh) and Jinal (Sonakshi Sinha) set out to live their dreams when they get an opportunity to be part of a Bollywood awards night and showcase their talent. But, little do they know that the awards show manager, Sophie (Lara Dutta), has chosen them from among millions of contest entrants, despite being terrible at what they do, only to embarrass her boss, Gary (Boman Irani), and wreak revenge on him for not giving her the due.

Enter, the show’s anchors, Karan Johar and Riteish Deshmukh (playing themselves), who throw their weight around and drive Gary up the wall. That’s not all; Karan has an evil twin, Arjun, who wants the former dead. Reason: Karan’s film, 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’s success leading to Arjun being mistaken as Karan and nobody taking him seriously as a gangster.

The in-jokes about the industry are plenty and Karan and Riteish bring their A-game to the film just like their acts at awards shows. In fact, Karan has some of the best lines and entertains with his double act. Sonakshi Sinha plays Jinal with earnestness and shares a warm camaraderie on screen with Diljit Dosanjh, but both of them have very little to work with in terms of their characters. Boman Irani is wasted in the role of Sophie’s boss and Lara Dutta makes the most of what is on offer. The film also drags in some places despite cameos from Salman Khan, Rana Daggubati, Aditya Roy Kapur and Sushant Singh Rajput.

The laughs are few and far between and most scenes and dialogues which manage to tickle the funny bone involve Karan and Riteish. The biggest let-down is the script and the various tracks in the narrative don’t always come together as a whole and seem contrived. The visual effects in the film are also tacky, to say the least. Actual footage from the awards show doesn’t blend in seamlessly with the portions which were shot later. The film must have sounded clever on paper as it doesn’t take itself too seriously and attempts to recreate the irreverent tonality, characteristic of the banter at award shows. However, it doesn’t always manage to hit the bull’s eye.