Oye Lucky Lucky Oye

Oye Lucky Lucky Oye
Original: Utpal Datta

When we talk about Bollywood films, a world of fantasy and make belief that predominated for ages, has interestingly seen a downward trend. Firstly a trend of films with new concepts did make an entry and then the foray of films which took over commercial ones and more real to life and represented facets of life in more real terms did gain lot of appreciation from audiences and thus transformed the entire scene of Bollywood of late. It is noteworthy here that the prima facie behind such transformation are the entry of new directors who have made a foray into Bollywood with some very ‘hatke’ themes and concepts of developing a story. One among this brigade is a director called Dibakar Bannerjee.

Through his debut film, ‘Khosla ka Ghosla’ , Dibakar Bannerjee reached out to the audience in a big way by depicting a simple story of a middle class man and his dream of owning a home; the trials and tribunals involved in the search; intermixed with comedy and slapstick humour. The film received the National Award for the best film of the year 2008. His second venture ‘Oye Lucky Lucky Oye’ and its stupendous success further helped Bannerjee in carving a niche for himself in Bollywood and become a household name.

Inspired by a real life incident, the film revolves round a smart thief. The film unfolds with a television show showcasing crime and criminals. The anchor for the show starts the story with the name of a thief called Lucky and speaking about his personal life- that is how the film starts rolling and that is how the film ends too.

A life story of a thief- that itself holds forth for an interesting, dramatic story to unfold before the eyes. Infact, at the very onset, the histrionics of the TV anchor sets the ball rolling for an exciting and dramatic mood altogether. Scene 1: Lucky is arrested by the police, there is the recovery of many stolen items, there is an exhibition of the same by the police department, accompanied by a press conference organized by the police whereby the entire incident of capturing Lucky is to be announced- immediately after that, the film goes back to Lucky’s childhood. Lucky belongs to a lower middle class Punjabi family based in Delhi. His father marries for the second time, there is loss of peace at home, Lucky grows into adolescence like a Bohemian, falls in love with a girl from his neighborhood, dreams of making it rich, learns the art of theft, grows into a young man, makes a name for himself in theft but what marks Lucky’s stealing charming is the use of humour and presence of mind. But the day he gets caught at the hands of the police, then he escapes, the anchor of the television show ends Lucky’s story and begins another story depicting another criminal, the film ends there.

Centering around Lucky, the protagonist, the film does not carry forward a heavy story, neither there is a sequence of problem, conflict-solution of any kinds. Instead the depiction of same kinds of theft and its repetition at times slows down the film’s pace and makes it annoying. Barring these portion, otherwise the film has been very successful in holding the audience’s attention throughout. Lucky is the film’s protagonist, but interestingly, he is not the hero. Neither he is the villain, or depicted as having grey shades to his character. Although he has taken up stealing as a profession, he but represents a simple ordinary man. Family feud, love and romance, dreams, aspirations, all these are integral part of Lucky’s life. He has come across more influential and crafty thieves than him, who have criticized him. His partners in crime have also criticized him. He falls in love with a college girl, which again remains a distant dream like many other dreams in his life. The last scene of the film where Lucky gets exhumed as in flames against the backdrop of a vast stretch of road is significant. This scene speaks for itself the void ness in Lucky’s life and his emotional quotient. This very scene touches upon creating the much desired upon response by the director upon his audiences.

The depiction of Lucky’s simple story, and its dramatic conflict is well crafted in the hands of Dibakar Bannerjee and his directorial techniques. He uses the commercial aspects of a typical masala movie but entwines it with his emotional likings and beliefs, and comes up with something new. As earlier mentioned, the film begins with a television show. To capture the mood of the audience, he uses the same kind of effect on frames throughout the film. Generally, a film is depicted in a chronological manner like in from one shot to another with inter-linkages in between , but the same is absent in this film. Again, when to capture the desired effect, the dialogues are paced according to the storyline, the same can be noticed in this film too. It is like the camera is not capturing a moment, rather, a situation arises whereby the camera gets the job done of capturing that moment. As a result what we get is a real presentation of the story. Again, what adds to the film’s reality is set designing, costume designing, dialogues and most importantly acting. The use of Punjabi mixed Hindi for the dialogues have made the film based against a typical Punjabi locality rather than a Hindi one. This real essence of the film is credit worthy and for which Dibakar Bannerjee gets special mention.

All the actors in the film have carried out the roles with finesse. Not a single artist is the odd man out in the film. The juxtaposition and fine blending of a veteran actor like Paresh Rawal with newcomers have been handled craftly at the hands of the director. Paresh Rawal has played three different roles in the film and each role with great finesse. Abhay Deol does justice to the role of Lucky. He shows a lot of promise. Again, Neetu Chandra who plays Lucky’s love interest is also attractive and appealing.

One striking thing which needs mention when it came to acting are the dialogues of the film. The artists have very well drove home the point via dialogues in the minds and hearts of the audience with the use of a fine rhythm in them. One scene in the film needs special mention. Dolly is Sonal’s elder sister (who plays Lucky’s love interest) and is a professional dancer. Lucky goes to meet Sonal one day but bumps into Dolly all alone in the house. Dolly tries to physically incite him and also relates to him that the other night she had to dance on an empty stomach (a well indicated dialogue of what she hinted at)- but Lucky refused to succumb to Dolly’s whims: an action which infuriated Dolly a lot. A brief encounter between the two characters but Dolly (played by Richa Chadda) stands out in the scene. The use of appropriate dialogues and the finesse on the part of the actor to bring out a real effect from such dialogues is creditworthy. Richa Chadda is worth mentioning in her brief role. The director knew that each dialogue had to be spoken with the desired effect to bring out on the screen. It’s not always difficult to bring out such an effect from established and veteran actors, but with newcomers it’s really a big task, but here the director has been successful.

The film’s camera work has already been mentioned. One more thing which should not be left unmentioned is the use of slow motion in the film. There are some moments in the film where this technique is used, especially when the story tries to depict or bring out to the fore Lucky’s emotional side. Such technique without doubt has been able to create an unforgettable experience on the audience.

There are a few songs in the film too. The songs have undoubtedly enhanced the effect of the scenes. In simple terms, the songs play the role of background music for the film.

In totality, the film is an unconventional one, the presence of a crafted and talented director can be well felt throughout the film. This film and its success have paved the way to look forward with eagerness for the director’s next venture. Just one wish, that the director will not fail to create enough ripples in the hearts of the audience, as he has done with this film. Way to go Oye Lucky Lucky Oye….