REVIEW: Lay your bets on 99

Review - REVIEW: Lay your bets on 99
[User Rating : 5/5]


Cricket and betting were two of the major themes in last year's surprise hit Jannat. This year as the IPL fever hots up yet again, you have 99, a film that tells an engaging tale about match fixing, mobile phones and betting.

Starring Cyrus Broacha, Kunal Khemu, Soha Ali Khan and Boman Irani in the lead roles, 99 is no melodrama a-la Jannat.

Sachin (Kunal Khemu) and Zaramud (Cyrus Broacha) are two happy-go-lucky blokes who make their dough by duplicating mobile phone sim cards. One fine day with the police hot on their heels they steal an expensive Merc and accidentally ram it into a lamp post. As it turns out, the car belongs to a certain AGM (Mahesh Manjrekar), a local don.

To repay his loss, Sachin and Zaramud start working for the fellow and on one assignment are packed off to New Delhi to recover money from Rahul (Boman Irani)

Now Rahul is no small fry in the betting circles. His wins are big but his losses are even bigger. The chap's almost always in debt but there's nothing he can do about his compulsive betting habit, a fact his wife Jahnavi (Simone Singh) cannot stand.

Meanwhile at the hotel they're staying, Sachin meets Pooja (Soha Ali Khan) a 'typical Delhi girl' who he instantly begins to like.

Soon enough it is time for Sachin and Zaramud to return to Mumbai with the money they have recovered from Rahul. On their way to the airport the bag gets stolen leaving the two men in the lurch.

Their only chance to recover all that money is the one match that Rahul plans to bet on... a match that might just be fixed.

99 is a classic example of a comic thriller. It takes situations that have actually happened and weaves a fictional story around it.

And while for most part the movie entertains, at certain others, 99 tends to drag. Boman's story for instance is extremely funny till his wife is brought into the picture. That portion tends to slower the pace of the film that is otherwise quite well made.

Kunal Khemu, Cyrus Boracha, Mahesh Manjrekar and Boman Irani leave you in splits each time they appear on the screen. Manjrekar, fresh from the success of Mee Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy sports the same look in this film too. Playing the affable don Manjrekar shows us that funny streak, which hasn't been properly exploited so far.

Boman of course does a good job as usual – we'd be surprised if he hadn't actually and so does Cyrus Broacha who has played a prominent role in a motion picture for the first time. Kunal Khemu too puts up an impressive performance though you are dying to see more of him and Soha on the screen.

The man to watch out for however is Amit Mistry who plays Kuber, a kingpin of a betting circle in Delhi. Along with his lackey Dimple the guy puts up a howlarious performance. Keep your eyes open for this fellow, guys.

What keeps you thoroughly entertained though are the dialogues and the almost plausible situations. Like all those mobile phone conversations between AGM and Kuber where both keep repeating 'Hello!' after each other assuming neither can hear anything. Or then there's that other scene where AGM asks his lackeys why his victim was tied on a chair atop a table. To which the guy goofily replies, "I thought it'll good!"

The producer of the film Anupam Mittal - also owns makes a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance as does Vinod Khanna, who plays Boman's nemesis in the film.

Verdict: Even though it could have been far shorter, 99 comes as a breath of fresh air. Lay your bets on it folks.

Rating: 3/5