Khatta Meetha is a satire and is a remake of Priyadarshan’s Malayalam film Vellanakalude Nadu.
The comic film Khatta Meetha revolves around a struggling road construction contractor; Sachin Tichkule (Akshay Kumar) who is doomed to dream big. There is no chance in hell that his dreams will ever come true, simply because he has no money to bribe!
Sachin Tichkule is a simple Marathi manoos who wears sunglasses, formal shirt-pant, belt, chappals, always carries a handbag and an umbrella and travels in autos.
To make matters worse, the new municipal commissioner turns out to be his ex-girlfriend Gehna Gampule (Trisha) who now hates him. Gehna Gampule is also from the same town as Sachin – from Phaltan. Gehna is a mature individual and strict in her work, and doesn’t allow corruption. She stays with her elder brother Mr Ganpule (Neeraj Vora) who is a bank manager.
Even as you laugh as Sachin stumbles his way from one disaster to another, the film reveals in a light hearted way, the extent of corruption and bribery rampant in the system. And the ingenious means you have to adopt if you want to survive.
Sachin’s father Ramakant Tichkule (Kulbhushan Kharbanda), a retired judge and his mother Aruna Irani believe that he is a nuisance in the family just for his misadventures. The mother’s dream is to get her sweet college going daughter Anjali (Urvashi Sharma) married. Anjali is the only one who believes in her brother Sachin and likes him the most in the family.
But our principled Sachin is the only one struggling, choosing to go on the path of truth, unlike all his relatives who accept corruption as part of the system. Even his dad feels that Sachin is left behind because of his righteous ways.
Among other characters in Khatta Meetha, there is Azad Bhagat, a common man (played by Markand Deshpande) whose wife and son die in a bridge accident. He believes that the bridge collapsed because of bad construction. He is an honest man who understands the politics and wants to expose the criminal behind this scam.
Rangeela (Rajpal Yadav) is a road worker. He works for Sachin Tichkule. His approach is very practical, he knows without giving bribes, Sachin’s bills and cheques will not be cleaed. By nature, Rangeela is a pervert with a roving eye.
Trigun Fatak (Manoj Joshi) is a chief engineer who works in the Municipality. His job is to inspect roads, bridges and flyovers. He is Sachin Tichkule’s brother in law, married to Sachin’s eldest sister.
Suhas Vichare (Milind Gunaji) is married to Sachin’s 2nd sister. He is a road contractor in partnership with Sachin’s elder brother Harish Tichkule (Paritosh Sand). They make big roads, highways, bridges and flyovers.
Sachin often takes money on heavy interest from a marwadi money lender Karodimal (Asrani) who owns a big Hardware Shop. The financer keeps goons on his payroll to recover money from guys like Sachin. Tinu Anand as Vishwas Rao, the Tichkule family’s driver is a very poor guy whose wife is sick and is always short of money.
The film Khatta Meetha is neither a fully loaded comedy nor a hard hitting satire about the corruption in the system.
Unlike Priyadarshan and Akshays hit comedy films, Khatta Meetha is a bit too long, too preachy, and lacks entertainment usually expected from the master director. It is an average satire.
Cast of Khatta Meetha:
Akshay Kumar – Sachin R. Tichkule
Rajpal Yadav – Rangeela
Trisha Krishnan – Gehna Ganpule
Urvashi Sharma – Anjali R. Tichkule
Johnny Lever – ‘Award’ Anushuman
Tinnu Anand – Vishwas Rao
Kulbhushan Kharbanda – Ramakant Tichkule
Aruna Irani – Sheetal R. Tichkule
Asrani – Karodimal
Neeraj Vora – Mr. Ganpule
Amita Nangia – Geeta Bhosle
Milind Gunaji – Suhas Vichare
Manoj Joshi – Trigun Fatak
Makrand Deshpande – Azad Bhagat
Atul Parchure – Chintan
Nagesh Bhonsle – Sanjay Rana
Paritosh Sand – Haresh R. Tichkule
Anupam Bhattacharya – Police Inspector
Paresh Brahmabhatt – Peon
Credits & Crew of Khatta Meetha:
Produced by Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd
Directed by Priyadarshan
Story, Screenplay – Priyadarshan
Dialogues – Jay Master
Lyrics – Irshad Kamil, Nitin Raikwar, Shehzad Roy
Original Music by Pritam Chakraborty
Background Score – Ouseppachan
Cinematography – V. Manikandan
Film Editing by Arun Kumar
Art Direction – Sabu Cyril
Costume Designs – Rocky S
Singers – Sunidhi Chauhan, Kay Kay, Kunal Ganjawala, Harshdeep Kaur, Daler Mehndi, Kalpana Patowary
Publicity – Lokesh Bali
Chorographer – Pony Verma
Khatta Meetha, movie review