Phata Poster Nikhla Hero movie review (2013)

"Phata Poster Nikhla Hero" is about four-fifths terrifically entertaining comedy with a brief—and, in retrospect, structurally necessary—turn for the serious shortly after the interval. In fairly short order, writer-director Rajkumar Santoshi makes clear that what appears to be first a lull and then a severe tonal misjudgment is, in fact, part of the film's larger celebration of cinematic artifice. In this case, it's the ability of filmmakers to manipulate audiences to a desired end. A skilled filmmaker (and Santoshi, despite an occasionally iffy resume as a director, is that) can have the audience noticing, thinking, and feeling exactly what that filmmaker wants.

If that seems a slightly lofty sentiment in consideration of what is, for the most part, a very silly comedy, it bears remembering that comedy, of all genres, requires the most active manipulation on the part of the writer(s) and director. Comic set pieces have to be very carefully crafted, jokes built, running gags paced for maximum effectiveness. The choreography of all these elements, not just the dancing (which is creatively staged, and exuberantly performed, particularly by Shahid Kapoor), but also comic set pieces and story, make "Phata Poster Nikhla Hero" enjoyable on meta-cinematic terms but also for the good clean (and notably so) fun of its comedy.

It's a rare film that's as fun to analyze as it is to sit back and enjoy. "Phata Poster Nikhla Hero" isn't quite that, as it's funnier than it is deep, but it's still an entertaining picture—and one that, a couple of violent moments aside, is suitable for the entire family.

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