Kaashi

First of all, your heart goes out to Sharman Joshi for being a part of something so frivolous. The talented actor is rendered helpless and reduced to being a laughing stock, thanks to poor writing, weak direction and laughable supporting performances. 

The script defies logic or even an ounce of probability so it’s amusing to have a court room second half, that’s worse than the beginning. Lawyers and judge trying to make sense of something that’s outrageously bizarre and far-fetched — the film ends up as unintentional comedy. 

Sharman Joshi and Manoj Joshi are perhaps the only actors that try to infuse some meaning to this inane story of deceit, crime and imagination. But even they can’t salvage it. 

The dialogues randomly shuttle between Bhojpuri and Mumbaiyya and sound spontaneous (not in a good way). For instance, doctors talk about a reclusive patient by saying, “Pura din chamach ghista hai toh kya hua, kum se kum nonsense mein engage toh nahi karta.” 

Also life in Banaras has a dated approach. People residing there must have a bright yellow scooter called ‘Ram Pyaari’ with sparkling decoration to make it look ‘small town’. Characters are brazenly stereotypical. A female journalist must drink and flirt with a guy for a ‘story’. A bikau lawyer must laugh like a monster to prove that he is a bad guy. 

Overall, the film should have been titled, Kaashi in search of a sensible story, as there isn’t one here. If you still wish to laugh your heart out for the wrong reasons, you can watch this one but Sharman Joshi deserves better and so do we! Sadly, even the so called shocking twist is funny. This one’s a mockery of ‘suspense’.