Movie Review: Ishq Garaari

Tagline: Phassu Garaari!
Preview: Ishq Garaari is a story of three friends who fall in love with one beautiful girl. They do silly and naughty attempts to get the girl from each other..…….!
Box Office Expectations: Ishq Garaari is the 1st Punjabi movie having a number of superstars & big personalities. The interesting thing about Ishq Garaari is that the Star cast of this movie spent lots of time & energy to promote the movie & they covered all the major cities & colleges of Haryana & Punjab. They expect the movie to open well, the only hitch, that Pre-Diwali period is not considered good for the movies.
Release Strategy: Ishq Garaari, a Pollywood film is releasing among 350 screens from all over the country. The trailer of the movie was good & had many likes & views on You Tube. So, the producers would be keeping their fingers crossed as it has only week to perform with the hurricane Krishh 3 which was earlier supposed to release on Monday, November 4, 2013 has been pre-poned to Friday, November 1, 2013.
Cast: Sharry Maan, Gulzar Inder Singh Chahal, Rannvijay Singha, Vinaypal Buttar, Mandy Takhar, Miss Pooja, Gunjan Walia, Prabhleen Sandhu & Balwinder Bicky (Chacha Raunki Ram) amongst others.
Director: Dheeraj Rattan, who is the writer of many Punjabi Blockbusters like Mel Karade Rabba, Jihne Mera Dil Luteya, the Jatt & Juliet Series. He is today one of the most sought after writer in Punjabi Cinema. As a director, he made his debut with Saadi Love Story, which was an average success. This is his 2nd outing with Ishq Garaari. Apart from his career in Punjabi Cinema, Dheeraj Rattan has been a part of several Bollywood films - Mumbai Salsa (2007), Haal-e-Dil (2008), 1920 (2008) and Aagey Se Right (2009) as an Assistant Director.
Duration: 140 Minutes
Movie Review: Sharry (Sharry Mann) is a struggling writer-singer & loves Preety (Prabhleen Sandhu), who is the daughter of our beloved Chacha Raunki Ram (Balwinder Bicky). To marry her, Chacha places a condition of earning Rs. 70 lac to Sharry for getting Preety’s hand. On the other hand, Miss Sweety (Mandy Takhar) is an aspiring singer in awe of Miss Pooja, the record holding Punjabi Singer (played by herself) so much so that she believes Miss Pooja is always with her & she is always talking with her & taking guidance from her. Virender Singh (Rannvijay Singha) is a door to door Viagra selling salesman & Jatinder Singh (Gulzar Inder Singh Chahal) is an electrician by profession. Miss Sweety hires both Virender & Jatinder for becoming her Manager to manage her profession. Meanwhile, Sharry & her accomplice Boondi (Punjabi Comedian) decide to kidnap Preety’s younger sister Sweety (Gunjan Walia). In the chaos that ensues, Boondi wrongly kidnaps Miss Sweety presuming her to be Sweety. The rest story that follows is the efforts of Virender & Jatinder to unite with Miss Sweety by freeing her from Sharry & side by side their encounters with Inspector Rab Raakha Singh (Vinaypal Buttar). Do Virender & Jatinder succeed is freeing Miss Sweety from Sharry? Does Sharry manage to earn 70 Lac for marrying Preety? Does Preety marry Sharry or some one else? What happens to Sweety? Does Miss Sweety get cured of her schizophrenia of Miss Pooja always being with her? Do Sharry & Miss Sweety become singers? Whom does Sharry eventually marry? What is the 2nd role that Miss Pooja plays? All in all, the comedy of errors that ensues is what the rest of the film is all about in the 2nd half & the same forms the crux of the climax.
Half Analysis: The first half is hilarious & all sorts of silly things happen to make u laugh (definitely not buffoonery) & there is a constant smile on your face. The 2nd half is intermittent with periods of highs & lows, but nevertheless the songs in 2nd half are entertaining leaving u yearning for more. There are no LOL or ROFL moments in the film, but a constant subtle laughter & finally, you leave the Audi with a smile on your face after getting entertained & that’s what matters ultimately.
Story, Screenplay & Dialogues: The script is nicely woven in the enterprise making the story move ahead fastly in the 1st half, but taking a bullock cart like speed in the 2nd half. However, there are a few things which are indigestible, like Preeti telling her kidnappers about the location of money in her house & on top of that Punjab Police inspector, very honestly giving money to kidnappers just to save his job. Nevertheless, when the on goings are entertaining, you ignore such things & enjoy the proceedings. The screenplay is water tight in 1st half, but goes haywire in 2nd. The dialogues are very funny at places, but charming enough to make you smile throughout the film.  
Performances: Sharry Mann excels as a cash starved struggling writer-singer, Rannvijay Singha as a door to door Viagra selling agent evokes laughter & so does Gulzar Inder Singh Chahal as the Electrician. Vinay Pal Buttar as the Inspector fails to impress. Balwinder Bicky as Chacha Raunki Ram also performs ably (Seen after a long time, he leaves his mark). Mandy Takhar is good as she improves upon his diction considerably, but in some scenes, especially when she is kidnapped, goes overboard in shouting etc. Miss Pooja shines through a little but a significant double role. Prabhleen Sandhu & Gunjan Walia, both have short roles, but they do their part ably. Jassi Gill (Punjabi Singer) shines in a Cameo. All in all, a joint effort by the cast makes it an entertaining experience.     
Music: The music is already a rage especially with Koi Ishq, Khalarara, Tu Kar Ja Bewafai, Jack Jatt Da becoming big hits. Even the other songs…Kudiye Chidiye, Title Track & Toffee Wargi Naar are all hummable. The only regret is that the biggest hit Koi Ishq has not been given a nice video, with the song just playing in the background without a proper play track & video. There are three music composers for the film & all have done a svelte job, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Nick Dhamu & RDB. Most songs are high on powerful entertaining zing & ensure that you have a good time.
DOP & other Technical Aspects: Like many films these days, the film has a very colourful & vibrant look throughout & is appealing to the eyes. The cinematography is good & the locales nice. All in all, it’s a decent camerawork.
Editing & Direction: The editing is good in first half but falls short of expectations in  the 2nd half as it is a roller coaster ride. Dheeraj Ratan finally gets it right after a dull 1st outing in Saadi Love Story. As mentioned earlier, the audiences are taken for a ride in a couple of scenes, but you ignore as all those are done in good taste to keep u entertained. All in all, a great outing for the Writer No.1 of Punjabi Cinema Dheeraj Ratan who is  aspiring to be the Director No. 1.
Conclusion: The Star Cast is huge, with Sharry Mann leading the pack with Rannvijay Singha, Gulzar Inder Singh Chahal, Mandy Takhar, Miss Pooja, Vinay Pal Buttar & Chacha Raunki Ram. The movie starts off well, reaches its zenith by interval in terms of entertainment, does fall down & go up in 2nd half intermittently, but reaches the height again by pre-climax & a justified climax where all the cast except our two eligible bachelors (Gulzar & Rannvijay) get their due. It is a clean hearted, sweet family entertainer with a catchy music, able performances, light hearted moments aplenty & a emotional content as well in the 2nd half to bring a tear or two. After a reasonably good RSVP on 11th October’2013, Punjabi cinema touched new lows with Heer & Hero last week (so much so that even after watching it, & writing the review, I eventually decided to not post the review as there was not even a single positive in it), Ishq Garaari makes Punjabi Cinema entertainment go a further step ahead with a minor or two hitches in the screenplay, but ending up as a light hearted, musical, comical & a family entertainer. The only roadblock I feel is the timing of the release as Pre-Diwali is considered a dull period for Cinema & with a Biggie like Krishh 3 arriving Diwali, all running movies would be wiped off next week (performing or not). So, go watch this one -- it's a sweet entertainer!
Final Say: Summing it up, All in all, Ishq Garaari works & it is a collective effort….. Good Music, Nice performances, Light/Comic moments aplenty….Go for it, if u love family entertainers….3.5*....... As Sharry Mann has sung in his famous song…….. Garaari Ardi, Garaari Ardi….:)
Statutory Warning: The intelligent cinema lovers can excuse this movie.
Box Office Opening: This is because of excellent promotions that Ishq Garaari’s 1st Day Box Office footfalls are impressive. The footfalls prove that the hard work of Sharry Maan, Gulzar Chahal, Miss Pooja & Mandy Takhar is quite enough to impress the people. The morning start was slow, but most of the shows especially in afternoon & Evening are booked with an average occupancy rate of 80-90%. The film has got an excellent response & love because of its superb songs & music as well. The film appears to the audience to be a complete package of Drama, Comedy with Romance. If Ishq Garaari runs with the same speed, then it can easily collect Rs. 2 Cr on weekend, which will be a good amount for a Punjabi film proving that Punjabi Cinema is on the top of its success & growing day by day.

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