Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota – A rumbustious action comedy-drama. A memorable ode to yesteryear films.
Director -Vasan Bala
Cast – Abhimanyu Dassani,Radhika Madaan,Gulshan Devaiah,Mahesh Manjrekar
Ratings – ⭐⭐⭐
A slapstick action-packed drama with a distinct flavor of past cinema—an adorable fanboy tribute to films. Abhimanyu as Surya marks his debut with this film—son of yesteryear star Bhagyashree, leaves a good impact. He suffers from a rare disorder—-congenital insensitivity to pain.
Because of which he is treated as a special child. He has to be taught to be receptive to blood when he sees it. He grows up on a staple diet of Bollywood and Bruce Lee martial arts films which frames his character. A superhero straight out of comic books out on the prowl for lawbreaking criminals, petty thieves. A water park is always with him to keep himself hydrated.
The film is a refreshing take on comedy and action in a hilarious way—a genre which has yet not been explored rampantly. The narrative is chilled, stylish, fresh, silly all in one. It has innumerable references to past films which keeps the audience guessing—and which they can spot on.
A superbly crafted madcap drama—almost looks like a sequel to Andaaz Apna Apna and Deadpool. It pays tribute to Manmohan Desai’s 1985 movie Mard, the great Bruce Lee movie Fist Of Fury, Enter The Dragon and so on. Every frame catches the nuances of an era gone by and kind of makes you nostalgic.
There is Radhika as Supri—the childhood sweetheart of Surya and keeps her own. The film is peppered with soulful romantic numbers with a retro touch—an ode to old classics—specially the Kishore Kumar song Nakhrewali.
The film has its flashes of maddening mayhem—the showdown between the hero and villains—with its foolishness and shrewdly carved action sequences—is the director’s ability to fashion a dream into reality and make it accessible.
Mahesh Manjrekar plays the character of Suryas grandfather—with a warrior like wisdom and stellar lines come alive on the screen. He has a great impact on shaping Suryas character—a mixture of sincerity and silliness. Radhika comes across as a fiery imp with an indomitable spirit.
Her performance has a lovely demeanor and wild like essence keeps the movie on its foot.
The storyline is weak and this is the place where the film lacks its content. Sometimes the buoyancy is at its peak and at other times it fizzles out giving it a yo-yo effect.
The flow is not consistently making it a bit topsy turvy. The plot is lengthy and desultory with useless subplots tagged into it.
Besides this weak plot, it’s a superbly crafted whimsical take on martial-arts-drama and Bollywood parody. It is a cool film inspired by movies of yore. A good watch for everybody who has grown up watching films.
