'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan' - probably one of the most awaited films of 1998 with all the ingredients to make it a hit film - top stars, good music and loads of masala and directed by comedy maestro David Dhawan. With so many things going for it one would hope that nothing goes wrong at the box office. Unfortunately, the film falls short of expectations and is nowhere near as fuuny as DD's earlier efforts - 'Saajan Chale Sasural', 'Hero No.1', 'Deewana Mastana' and so on. 'Inspired' by Shakespere's 'A Comedy of Errors' and the Hollywood smash hit 'Bad Boys', 'Bade Miyan Chote Miyan' is great in places but falls completely flat in others. Despite thes flaws, though it's obvious that it fact going to be a sureshot at the box office.
Arjun Singh (Amitabh Bachchan) and Ram Pyaare (Govinda) - two cops with completely contrasting personalites are good friends who
seem to be ending up in one one mess after the other. They end up in further problems when they have to protect
a key witness (Ramya Krishnan) from a bunch of murderous gangsters. In the process Arjun Singh falls in love with her while
Arjun's sister Seema (Raveena Tandon) and Pyaare are a cosy twosome. Further complications arise when look-alikes of Pyaare Mohan & Arjun Singh -
Bade Miyan and Chote Miyan, step into the picture and commit several frauds and thefts framing Arjun and Pyaare in the process. How this utter mess is sorted form the
climax of the movie...
As with previous DD flicks the story is hardly of any importance but what exactly is the purpose of the movie??There are so many subplots woven into the main plot that it is very diifucult to follow what exactly is going on. Scenes just seem to be shoved in to entice laughter but some of them hardly ever do - instead you're left thinking 'how stoopid' or 'erm did I just miss a joke???'. The script by Rumi Jaffrey is just not upto the mark and the prolonged fight sequences don't help much either.
But it's not all disappointment. The first half of the movie is hilarious and one liners and gags are plentiful. Amitabh Bachchan is good but it is Govinda who steals the show with his excellent sense of comic timing - in fact the movie would be worthless without him in it. Madhuri Dixit in her special appearance is a treat to the eyes - both her dance and introductory scene are brilliant and she looks gorgeus. Raveena Tandon, as usual does not have much to do but she looks stunning nonetheless. Ramya has lost a little bit of weight and does well in the few scenes she's given. Among the supporting cast Anupam Kher overdoes it at times while Satish Kaushik and Kadar Khan do well in guest appearances. The music by Viju Shah is catchy especially 'Makhna' and 'Kisi Disco Mein Jaye' and the cinematography and camerawork is colourful and innovative.
All said and done this is still a fairly enjoyable film, but one can't help feeling that with two of the funniest actors in Bollywood David Dhawan could have done much much more to make it an above average film.
Rating:
