It's More than Comedy from Priyadarshan’s Khatta Meetha

Khatta Meetha is a comedy that is produced by Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd and distributed by DreamWorld Searchlight Pictures. This Akshay Kumar starrer is a remake of Priyadarshan's Malayalam film Vellanakalude Naadu (1988). After the runaway success of Hera Pheri, Garam Masala and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, the Priyadarshan – Askshay Kumar team are back for the sixth time with something more than a slapstick comedy. Trisha, a highly popular Tamil actress, made her debut through Khatta Meetha. Other actors in the film are Makrand Deshpande, Rajpal Yadav, Aroona Irani, Urvasi and Milind Gunaji. The movie has many comic sequences that made the entire audience laugh for several minutes, thanks to Akshay Kumar and the clumsy assistant played by Rajpal Yadav. Most importantly, the movie tells us the difficulties that an ordinary man faces in complying with existing laws and the immediate repurcussions that fall on him when he fails to comply. The other relevant issue that is dealt with throughout the movie is the problem of corruption at every level, be it in a government office, a business or even approval of road contracts by regulatory authorities.

Khatta Meetha: Meet Sachin Tichkule of Tichkule and Tichkule

Sachin Tichkule (starring Akshay) is a badly dressed, struggling road construction contractor who never has enough money to bribe the 'government babus.’  In  his family, he has brothers and brothers-in-law who are successful professionals and they are embarrassed by his low status in their midst.  While Sachin Tichkule had embraced Gandhian ideals during his college years, he realizes that in real life, it doesn't guarantee any success for honest people like him. Following the law becomes a burden for an honest person is another message the movie seems to express.

In a desperate attempt to become successful, he gives up his ideals and tries to imitate the others but he fails at it because deep at heart, he knows it’s the wrong way to be. He pins his hopes on the new municipal commissioner, who would possibly see his talent and potential and get him more projects but this turns out to be Gehna Ganpule, his ex-girlfriend (Trisha). He feels egoistic about having to address her as ‘Madam’ and insults her every time he tries to prove a point. The result is a mixture of social satire, comedy and tragedy, a gray area because Trisha’s dialogue rendering, wooden expression and mechanical rendition of the character does little to uplift her character even a little.

Khatta Meetha: Respectability as a Social Façade

The movie strips away the respectability of ‘successful people’ by delving into the reality of what they tend to do in order to become successful.  We have corrupt politicians who are pampered by the corrupt bureaucracy and engineers and business contractors, just to mention a few.  Even the respectability of relationships are attacked, such as that of a parent and child, husband and wife, brother and sister, just to mention a few.

Everything today, the movie tries to convey, boils down to money power and muscle power. Enter an honest man like Sachin Tichkule into this highly politicized, corrupt government system, he will be the scapegoat for all that is wrong, at least outwardly. When the police come to arrest him, his family members taunt him saying that the police had never come to their home before and he says, “They would have but you people were smart enough to not let them come. They came for me because I am an ordinary person and I can’t bribe them.”

These are the dialogues that win the hearts of people because we label success based on how people are perceived by others and not based on what they really are as individuals. The movie attempts to show that true losers are out there, claiming to be successful because they made selfish and self-destructive choices. Of course, this is not to convey that all successful people are corrupt. It is just a perspective of the protagonist, nothing else.

In Khatta Meetha, there are several flaws to the plot but the masses loved Akshay Kumar's zeal and character in it.  He adds substance and confusion to the plot when he attacks the corrupt system, proving once again that our heroes can't be selfish and greedy. High melodrama, unnecessary songs and wooden acting from Trisha are some of the sore points. What stays with the audience is the gist of the film: if you can't fight corruption, sometimes you just have to join in and fight'em from within the system.

Still, the buzz in Bollywood is that Akshay Kumar is definitely back in form and accomplished an impressive and believable rendition of the protagonist that he represented. Yep, it's worth a watch.