Spoilers ahead…
Had Mubarakan just been about the characters played by its senior cast, we’d have had a family melodrama of a bachelor brother (Anil Kapoor’s Kartar Singh) torn between his warring siblings: Jeeto (Ratna Pathak) and Baljeet (Pavan Malhotra). But the film wants to be an Anees Bazmee comedy as well, the kind where we’re supposed to erupt into laughter because the kulfi-wala passes by with a cart carrying the name Izzat Ka Falooda. So we have to rely on the junior cast, headed by Arjun Kapoor playing twins (Karan, Charan). Looking at the actor trying valiantly to… act, you know why Bazmee made the family Sikh. Charan wears a turban. Karan doesn’t. Otherwise, you couldn’t tell them apart.
The story begins in 1990, when, as babies, Karan and Charan are orphaned. Bazmee then uses a family tree to show how Charan and Karan ended up so different – and the scene isn’t half-bad. Given Bazmee’s earlier work, the film itself isn’t half-bad. To see why, just recall the scene in No Problem where Paresh Rawal says “I hate black” (he’s talking about the paint Akshaye Khanna has unknowingly applied all over his face), and finds himself surrounded by irate black people, one of whom screams, “Obama is the President of America and you still hate us?” And then it turned out, worse was in store. At least Mubarakan doesn’t subject us to a gorilla passing gas and blowing someone off the frame.
A comedy lives and dies on the strength of its bits, and Mubarakan has a few. Charan is in love with a Muslim (Nafisa, played by Neha Sharma), so Urdu creeps into his speech. (You can only imagine where a genuinely funny actor would have taken this.) There’s a Britisher who’s so Punjabi-fied that he calls everyone paaji. But it isn’t enough. The film is way too long, and because it keeps veering into drama, there are major pacing issues. And it’s distasteful that Karan and Charan keep treating the heroines – Nafisa, Binkle (Athiya Shetty), Sweety (Ileana D’Cruz) – like ping-pong balls. To have three women fighting over Arjun Kapoor, we’ve passed the realms of comedy and drama and slipped into sci-fi fantasy.
Copyright ©2017 Baradwaj Rangan. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Anu Warrier
July 30, 2017
To have three women fighting over Arjun Kapoor, we’ve passed the realms of comedy and drama and slipped into sci-fi fantasy.
Years ago, a film called Judaai released. My father and I watched it together, and I still remember my father’s comment: ‘If you can believe that women like Sridevi and Urmila Matondkar will fight over Anil Kapoor, then you can believe that the story can take place. ‘
This seems like more of the same. 🙂
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Bharathi Shevgoor
July 31, 2017
I’ll probably never watch the movie. But just getting to read your take on it is paisa vasool. The review was too short, though hoping you’ll to expend your energy on such fare may be asking for too much.
“You can only imagine where a genuinely funny actor would have taken this”- it would be nice if some examples of this could be presented. Would make the observation more discernible, perhaps.
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Apu
July 31, 2017
“To have three women fighting over Arjun Kapoor, we’ve passed the realms of comedy and drama and slipped into sci-fi fantasy.”
AND
‘If you can believe that women like Sridevi and Urmila Matondkar will fight over Anil Kapoor, then you can believe that the story can take place. ‘
Hey, Karishma and Tabu fought over Govinda, remember?
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sanjana
August 1, 2017
Can this be called actor shaming?
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sanjana
August 1, 2017
People are watching Arjun Kapoor’s films whether he is with Alia or with Parineeti. He is not that bad either in looks or some average acting. No one says this about Salman Khan atleast as loudly. A body too muscular and too heavy and very average acting. If one can accept expressionless Katrina, why not Arjun who is somewhat better? Arjun Kapoor is like the guy next door and he is also getting such roles, not epic roles like his cousin. I think it has become fashion to bash some soft target and get pleasure out of it. Just the way some did for Rajendra Kumar and Manoj Kumar.
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Apu
August 2, 2017
“the kind where we’re supposed to erupt into laughter because the kulfi-wala passes by with a cart carrying the name Izzat Ka Falooda. ”
We did appreciate the same type of funny/clever names in Jagga Jasoos, no?
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Anu Warrier
August 3, 2017
Sanjana, when Salman Khan came in, he wasn’t too muscular, too heavy, whatever. And there was a certain innocence about him, and he did show his penchant for comedy.
As for expressionless Katrina, people bash her for it all the time. Saying that, as of now, Arjun Kapoor really can’t act is not making him ‘a soft target and getting pleasure out of it’. It’s an objective statement. As it is of Manoj Kumar in his later roles, when he started being a caricature of a patriotic Indian. And began looking more like a wax figure than a wax figure does.
It is true that all three mentioned – Rajendra Kumar, Manoj Kumar and Arjun Kapoor – have their fans. It’s also true that Rajendra Kumar was a very, very successful star. (So is Katrina Kaif.) Success and talent are not mutually inclusive – otherwise, Nawazuddin, Irfan, Vidya, Radhika Apte et al, would be bigger ‘stars’ than some of the present day lot.
@Apu – my son wants to watch Mubarakaan – he chortled his way through the trailor. I’m sure he will laugh out loud at ‘Izzat ka falooda‘ 🙂
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sanjana
August 3, 2017
The problem is that even if I want to discuss or argue, sometimes the comments appear too late and the replies become too stale. And most of the time it becomes irrelevant.
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Santa
August 3, 2017
@sanjana, might it be that it’s Alia or Parineeti drawing the crowds rather than Arjun? Not trying to bash Arjun here, just saying that the assumption that the lead man is the crowd puller seems somewhat sexist.
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sanjana
August 3, 2017
If its Alia or Parineeti, then wont it also become sexist? Reverse sexism?
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sanjana
August 3, 2017
The problem is on one hand, there is an outcry that heroines should get their due. When it happens, they make fun of the heroes. Why cant one accept mediocrity can also coexist? It gives some hope for the average.
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Anu Warrier
August 3, 2017
Sanjana, I agree that mediocrity can co-exist; but, is there any reason why we should not point out that they are in face, mediocre? Since when has mediocrity been the benchmark for achievement?
Regarding reverse sexism – I don’t know about Parineeti, but today, saying that it is Alia who is more likely to be pulling in the crowds than Arjun Kapoor is not sexism, reverse or otherwise. It is an objective fact. In most other circumstances, I agree that it is generally the hero who pulls in the footfalls. I hope that changes and it becomes not so much about the face on the poster as the content within.
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rnjbond
August 13, 2017
Was this a review to just bash Arjun Kapoor? Honestly, he’s a merely okay actor and I agree that a better actor would have done more justice to the roles.
But your review is super short, spends a lot of time making fun of Arjun Kapoor, and you don’t even mention Anil Kapoor’s fantastic acting in this movie, which he’s gotten plenty of accolades for.
I just saw this movie today and it was a very fun film… in a year where we’ve gotten so many disappointments (JHMS, Raees, Raabta, etc), it’s nice to have a movie that’s just plain enjoyable and funny.
I’m disappointed in this review, your reviews are normally on-point and thorough (whether I agree with your viewpoint or not).
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