Nagesh Kukunoor in his latest film Bombay to Bangkok portrays that love has no boundaries and even can surpass language barriers. It is a cute romantic story with its heart in the right place. It also has a subplot within the plot, which comes as a surprise towards the end. Flow and treatment in this film is same as Kukunoor’s earlier films, eventhough the byline screams ‘same-same, but different’!
Bombay to Bangkok has simple narration is simple; and some moments between Shreyas Talpade and Lina Christianson are handled very romantically. It is typically Kukunoor’s expert execution of the story makes a difference.
Shankar (Shreyas Talpade), a petty thief, in desperate need of money, steals from the local don (Naseeruddin Shah) and escapes his way alongwith a team of doctors heading for relief work to Bangkok. Unfortunately, he loses the all-important money bag in the chaos..
In Bangkok, his world turns upside down at a massage parlour where he bumps into the pretty Thai woman Jasmine (Lena Christianson) who is works as a medical camp volunteer during the day, while she is a sex worker at a massage parlour during the night. By way of some good luck, a ray of hope comes his way the next day when Jasmine turns up desperately in need of a doctor! Shankar, posing as a doctor along with his Sardar buddy Rachinder, jumps into this whirlpool, while Jasmine soon gets towed into his bumbling adventures while running away from the don and his son Jamaal Khan (Vijay Maurya).
Its slapstick in moments when the newly turned thief poses as a sexologist and hands out free samples of Viagra to every available victim, alongside a bunch of genuine doctors, holding a camp, outside Bangkok.
Given the filmmaker’s inclination for sensible cinema after presenting some genuine hit hindi films, he is below par in Bombay To Bangkok which comes as quite an unpleasant surprise. On the whole, Bombay to Bangkok has a few enjoyable moments, but that’s about it.
It is a feel good movie with warmth, with humour sprinkled around which leaves the audience with a smile all through the movie for the subtle and vibrant humour. There is excellent chemistry between the duo, smooching under the open sky and mouthing Thai sweet nothings. Shreyas Talpade is proves his abilities yet again despite a poorly written part. The South-East Asian leading lady Lina Christianson is equally competent apart from her portraying puzzled appearance almost all throughout.
The film’s weak link is the feeble storyline, and is rescued by some relaxing songs like ‘Same Same But Different’ and ‘Mausam Suhana’ being well-tuned tracks. The actor enacting the role of Rachinder is good. Vijay Maurya is excellent. Yateen Karyekar is alright. Naseeruddin Shah is there for just one scene.
There are delightful moments in Bombay to Bangkok by theatre actor Maurya and Jeneva Talwar, merits more screen space then it eventually gets. Though the director could have presented some beautiful landscapes of Thailand the country of aquamarine waters, pristine beaches and colourful locations, which is the opportunity he missed in this film.
CAST of Bombay to Bangkok:
Shankar – Shreyas Talpade
Jasmine – Lina Christianson
Rachwinder Singh (Rash) – Vijay Maurya
Vikram Inamdar
Dr. Kolluri – Yatin Karyekar
Naseeruddin Shah – (special appearance)
Jam K – Manmeet Singh
Rati – Jeneva Talwar
Yatin Karyekar
Credits of Bombay to Bangkok:
Banner – Mukta Searchlight Films, SIC Productions
Director – Nagesh Kukunoor
Producer – Subhash Ghai, Elahe Hiptoola, Rahul Puri
Executive Producer – Devika Bahudhanam
Written by – Nagesh Kukunoor
Music Directors – Pritam Chakraborty, Suleman Merchant, Saleem Merchant
Original Music by – Pritam Chakraborty, Salim Merchant, Ronnie Shirish, Sukhwinder Singh
Lyrics Mir Ali Husain
Cinematography by – Sudeep Chatterjee
Film Editing by – Sanjib Datta
Sound Designer – Vipin Bhati
Bombay to Bangkok, movie review