A half-baked romcom
Vishwak Sen’s Paagal finally saw the light of the day after a string of postponements. The movie attracted a lot of pre-release buzz because of its over-the-top promotions. But it looks like the makers should have invested time and effort in creating a novel storyline and emotional hooks rather than harping on a guy proposing to 1600 girls.
Paagal movie review: Let’s dive into what Paagal is about
Prem (Vishwak Sen) wants to take an important decision in life and narrates his love stories and the way he faced rejection. Also, how he touched the magical number of 1600 is an interesting point. Prem loses his mother at an early age and tries to find a girl who can give him motherly love. He keeps proposing to lots of girls and is rejected many times. Then he finally finds love in Teertha (Nivetha Pethuraj). But there is a twist in the tale. Will their love blossom? Will Prem get the love of his life? That’s what the movie is about.
Director Naresh Kuppuli tried to mix love, romance, maternal love and other emotions – but couldn’t construct a cohesive whole. Paagal starts off well, with emotional episodes between mother and son. There is a touch of humour as well. Then it jumps into a gimmicky zone, with the protagonist trying various ways to woo girls.
There are a few hilarious scenes, but they seem force-fitted into the narrative. Certain portions are stretched for no rhyme or reason. There are a couple of peppy numbers and glossy visuals, and that’s it.
The film slowly loses steam around the interval, and the second half leaves nothing much to cheer about. The emotional connection is missing from the whole film. There are love stories, but they are disjointed.
Vishwak Sen is full of charm. However, he looks artificial in the emotional scenes. Nivetha Thomas shines in her role. Murali Sharma is adequate as a politician but has limited scope to excel. Simran Choudhary and Megha Lekha also have roles that don’t offer much scope, but Megha impresses with her expressive eyes.
All-in-all, Paagal is a hotchpotch of many films from the past, and falls flat in presenting love and emotions in an appealing way. For most of the time, the movie struggles to slip into the genre of a romcom and ends up being a routine drama. It’s a cheesy, unnatural, half-baked bag of borrowings.
Give this Paagal a miss!