‘Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video’ movie review: Rajkummar Rao enlivens this long title with a short shelf life

Promising to be a laugh riot, Raaj Shaandilyaa’s bouquet of comic characters in ‘Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video’ doesn’t bloom to its potential

Coming from a background in writing low-brow comedy skits for television, director Raaj Shaandilyaa has this knack for creating funny characters rooted in mofussil towns that generate mirth by engaging in rollicking repartees. His broad humour emanates from deep observation and understanding of the cultural mores of a conservative society coming to terms with socio-economic liberalisation in the 1990s. However, Shaandilya’s skill to combine the comic sketches into a wholesome screenplay is still a work in progress, resulting in a disappointing outcome.

In Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video, the protagonist is a male mehendi artist, a ubiquitous figure in the neighbourhood who is seldom celebrated. Set in Rishikesh when it was part of Uttar Pradesh, the film follows Vicky (Rajkummar Rao) as he gets married to Vidya (Triptii Dimri) despite a mismatch in the hierarchy of their professions. He makes designs on women’s hands and she, being a doctor, keeps a check on people’s pulse. Overcome by a strange urge or perhaps a fad that echoes the current digital generation’s eagerness to record even the most intimate moments for posterity, they decide to make a video of their first night for their pleasure.

When the CD of the night gets stolen in a burglary, it scares the daylights out of them and the film spirals into a series of comic situations. The theft brings home a police officer high on hemorrhoids (Vijay Raaz). In Vicky’s Bombay-returned sister Chanda (Mallika Sherawat), he finds reason to solve the case but it sends Vicky into a tizzy. Mallika looks in a mood to reignite her career with her comic flair and the makers should know that Vijay doesn’t require a hideous wig to generate laughs.

Rajkummar is the star of this universe and the fact that he is again named Vicky after his character in the popular Stree franchise shows a conscious attempt to build on the adventures of the boy next door who is too clever or cute by half. While Rajkummar keeps it natural, Tripti needs to process comic expressions better.

As the 90s nostalgia, supported by the risible charm of Rakesh Bedi, Tiku Talsania, and Archana Puran Singh and tinged with the voices of Kumar Sanu, Daler Mehndi, and Alka Yagnik, plays out on the screen, the dramedy promises to be a hoot.

However, Shandilya tends to reduce storytelling to a joke. He becomes so desperate for wordplay and turn of phrase that the basic emotion of the theme gets compromised. Be it bringing in the element of horror comedy or the chor bazaar segment or imparting a social message, the ideas beneath the one-liners feel forced and undercooked. When some of the wisecracks don’t land and the racist humour disappoints, it bursts the bubble. When the dots don’t join and the intrinsic logic doesn’t hold, you emotionally log out of the charade for the comedy starts crumbling under the weight of its expectations of consistently finding the funny bone. This desperation to tickle becomes the undoing of VVKWWV, eventually reducing it to a long title with a short shelf life.

Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video is currently running in theatres