Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video in many ways tries to recreate the 90’s milieu and nostalgia like Dum Laga Ke Haisha (2015) but never strikes a chord. The writing does little to help you or its characters revisit the 90s or belong to the world they are supposed to inhabit. Everything is surface-level. The script is strangely progressive and regressive. Vicky is a male mehendi artist, who falls in love with Vidya, a doctor, which is fascinating but their equation isn’t explored beyond the superficial exterior. Characters are fat-shamed, thin-shamed, slut-shamed, age-shamed, look-shamed. A maid is told her name can’t be chanda (moon) but Brahmand because she isn’t pretty or thin. A pan-chewing Archana Puran Singh (as Vidya’s mother) is mocked for wanting to get intimate with her husband because she’s old. None of it evokes laughter as intended.
The ensemble film had the potential to be a comedy of errors like Priyadarshan’s past hits (Chup Chup Ke, Hera Pheri, Bhagam Bhag), but it’s way too inconsistent and vague in its approach and intent. The story lacks clarity about what it sets to achieve. It tries too hard to be funny, nostalgic (90’s songs are inserted repeatedly) and moralistic but the climax gets way too bizarre for your liking. The film suddenly shifts gear and gets into an activism mode before resorting to horror comedy. Two mimics parading as Suniel Shetty serve as the final nail in the coffin.
One can imagine that Shaandilyaa, who built his career around jokes written for television standup acts, had the ability to create a fair amount of one-liner jokes. He has made full use of such situations in the film which tries to show the funny side of life. One can only laugh at the futility of this effort.
That video by Vicky Vidya feels like an extended skit that aspires to be a runaway laugh riot. It is a riot, but not in the way or to the extent that it wants to be. The film always manages to move in a direction that goes nowhere.
The problem mainly lies in a loose screenplay, the credit for which goes to Yusuf Ali Khan, Ishrat Khan and Rajan Aggarwal apart from the director. The writers never find the sweet spot that differentiates between the titillating heights they seek and the laborious and careless stabs at crude humor they manage.
