1.5 stars
Controversial filmmaker Kaizad Gustad, credited for outside-the-box notabilities, with films ala Bombay Boys (1998) and Boom (2003). While former was an unorthodox comedy film, which traced the adventures of three young men in modern-day Mumbai (or Bombay); the latter explored the involvement of the fashion world with underworld crime. He also has directed two short films, namely Lost & Found (1995) and Bombil and Beatrice (2007). His latest outing Jackpot, in his words, is conscious effort to get a taste of the commercial zone of cinema. It is exactly after a decade that the filmmaker is back in business. Coincidentally, Jackpot is the third outing for both Sachin Joshi, after a series of flops in Aazaan (2011) and Mumbai Mirror (2013) and Sunny Leone, in Jism 2 (2012) and Shootout at Wadala (2013) consecutively.
Jackpot is a fast paced comic full jhol thriller movie. It starts in Goa where Maya (Sunny Leone) and Francis Alamara (Sachin Joshi) are small time con artists cum casino manager & casino dealer respectively. But now they have got ambitious and want to pull one big time heist. The owner is Boss (Naseeruddin Shah) and they plan to win the jackpot at Poker. But the task isn’t easy as Naseeruddin is a formidable and cunning rival. The heist is shown in 10 chapters spread out over 10 days. Each chapter or day is about 10 minutes long. The theme of the movie is set in the world of casino boats and gambling in Goa.
Backwaters. Peace and silence. A lazy river. A House Boat comes into view. Rocking unsteadily. A gunshot. The boat begins to go down. A splash is heard. Over opening credits, a body falls into the still waters of the Chapora river. It makes a huge splash as it gets caught in fishing nets. The person starts to drown. A briefcase marked JACKPOT floats above the water. A pair of hands grabs it. The house boat starts to sink into the river. The movie goes backwards all the way to 10 days ago. In the process, we see how an amateur gang of people manage to enact the perfect comedy con, wherein they rig the casino boat in such a way as to win the 5 Crore Jackpot. They then stage their own robbery, and get away with the cash as well as the insurance against the cash. In doing so, the 5 members of the gang split up, they start to suspect each other and things go horribly wrong. The movie is told in reverse order - first we see what they do, and then we see how they did it. In other words, this is like a murder mystery - first we see the murder itself, and then we see how it was planned. In this story - first we see the heist and then we see how it was planned. This provides a new and novel way to tell a story. It is contemporary, urban, young, fresh and funny. This is a universal story about greed, trust and love. It is told in a fast and frenetic manner - complete with song, dance and action. Tocut the long story short, Jackpot is : Trust, Greed, Sex, Money, Poker and River.
To begin with, the viewers would be confused from the very onset as there is no apt story or screenplay (Kaizad Gustad) to keep them hooked to the narration.The style is best understood by Kaizad himself only. The Dop Artur Zurawski captures the scenic locales of Goa, with grey skies and the downpour aesthetically. Mehmood Khan's action is unserviceable with bouncers running behind a lone person & yet couldn't get hold of him. The art direction is exorbitantly splendid, which is evident from the very beginning, one scene that includes the 'jackpot drawing' with coloured chalks on a blackboard, particularly. Right from the repetitive costumes to selfsame places, it can be patently descried that the movie has been shot in 27 days merely, in one go. The dialogues are lewd consummately. Ponty (Bharath Srinivasan) points to Sunny's breasts and says Tera Poora Dimaag Idhar hai, to which Sunny replies back pointing towards his Thing, Agar Mera Dimaag Idhar Hota To Teri Mardangi Udhar Gir Gyi Hoti. The grotesqueness could be felt easily. The only plus point in the movie is its brisk editing, which, especially through the penultimate & ultimate moments takes the movie to tad interesting zone, where the director spills the beans, but then the story is too late to savour. The music is totally circumstanced, one that is excogitated to upbuild and carry forward the story. However two standout tracks, 'Kabhi Jo Badal Barse' (Music Director: Toshi Sabri, Sharib Sabri; Lyricist: Azeem Shirazi, A M Turaz; Singer: Arjit Singh) and 'Eggjactly' (Music Director/Lyricist/Singer: Javed Jaffrey), are putative killer & mordant tracks respectively. The rest of the songs, 'Full Jhol' (Music Director/Singer: Mika Singh; Lyricist: Abhiyan Rajhans), 'Bol Bugger Bol' (Music Director: John Stewart; Singer: Remo Fernandes), 'Jackpot Jeetna' (Music Director: John Stewart; Singer: Sunidhi Chauhan) and 'Now You See Now You Don't' (Music Director: Mika Singh; Lyricist: Ramya Iyer, Kaizad Gustad; Singer: Ramya Iyer) are substandard tracks teetotally.
Sachin Joshi is the producer of the film and which is why he gets to portray his talent as the lead actor too. He introduces the movie but I must admit, he is patently pathetic, consummately in his dialogue delivery, body language and expressions. What Boom is for Katrina Kaif, Jackpot is to Sunny Leone. She is merely a glamorous prop with firang accent. She is sexy and manipulative. She is evidently better than what she did in Jism 2 but still the fact remains the same that acting is not her cup of tea. The chemistry with Sachin too doesn't ooze oomph and is unbaked. It's enthralling to see her act right in front of her husband Daniel Weber, who has a suave mannered cameo. Sunny's fans won't get enough of her this time too, alike Jism 2, except a striptease scene in the penultimate moments, where her raw energy is overwhelming. But her fans do know well where to search for instead! Makrand Deshpande is befitting in his role of a lax policeman cum subsidiary in con. Bharath Srinivasan debuts competently. Though Naseeruddin Shah would regret after watching complete movie, he's the lone actor who has given a stellar performance.
On the whole, Jackpot has cleverly portrayed second half but overall, the movie cons the viewers big time into a jaded journey. It's candidly one of the worst movie to have churned out of Bollywood. Don't even THINK of watching this movie. A colossal disappointment that will bore the movie buffs to death and hence, wouldn't translate into footfalls!
Controversial filmmaker Kaizad Gustad, credited for outside-the-box notabilities, with films ala Bombay Boys (1998) and Boom (2003). While former was an unorthodox comedy film, which traced the adventures of three young men in modern-day Mumbai (or Bombay); the latter explored the involvement of the fashion world with underworld crime. He also has directed two short films, namely Lost & Found (1995) and Bombil and Beatrice (2007). His latest outing Jackpot, in his words, is conscious effort to get a taste of the commercial zone of cinema. It is exactly after a decade that the filmmaker is back in business. Coincidentally, Jackpot is the third outing for both Sachin Joshi, after a series of flops in Aazaan (2011) and Mumbai Mirror (2013) and Sunny Leone, in Jism 2 (2012) and Shootout at Wadala (2013) consecutively.
Jackpot is a fast paced comic full jhol thriller movie. It starts in Goa where Maya (Sunny Leone) and Francis Alamara (Sachin Joshi) are small time con artists cum casino manager & casino dealer respectively. But now they have got ambitious and want to pull one big time heist. The owner is Boss (Naseeruddin Shah) and they plan to win the jackpot at Poker. But the task isn’t easy as Naseeruddin is a formidable and cunning rival. The heist is shown in 10 chapters spread out over 10 days. Each chapter or day is about 10 minutes long. The theme of the movie is set in the world of casino boats and gambling in Goa.
Backwaters. Peace and silence. A lazy river. A House Boat comes into view. Rocking unsteadily. A gunshot. The boat begins to go down. A splash is heard. Over opening credits, a body falls into the still waters of the Chapora river. It makes a huge splash as it gets caught in fishing nets. The person starts to drown. A briefcase marked JACKPOT floats above the water. A pair of hands grabs it. The house boat starts to sink into the river. The movie goes backwards all the way to 10 days ago. In the process, we see how an amateur gang of people manage to enact the perfect comedy con, wherein they rig the casino boat in such a way as to win the 5 Crore Jackpot. They then stage their own robbery, and get away with the cash as well as the insurance against the cash. In doing so, the 5 members of the gang split up, they start to suspect each other and things go horribly wrong. The movie is told in reverse order - first we see what they do, and then we see how they did it. In other words, this is like a murder mystery - first we see the murder itself, and then we see how it was planned. In this story - first we see the heist and then we see how it was planned. This provides a new and novel way to tell a story. It is contemporary, urban, young, fresh and funny. This is a universal story about greed, trust and love. It is told in a fast and frenetic manner - complete with song, dance and action. Tocut the long story short, Jackpot is : Trust, Greed, Sex, Money, Poker and River.
To begin with, the viewers would be confused from the very onset as there is no apt story or screenplay (Kaizad Gustad) to keep them hooked to the narration.The style is best understood by Kaizad himself only. The Dop Artur Zurawski captures the scenic locales of Goa, with grey skies and the downpour aesthetically. Mehmood Khan's action is unserviceable with bouncers running behind a lone person & yet couldn't get hold of him. The art direction is exorbitantly splendid, which is evident from the very beginning, one scene that includes the 'jackpot drawing' with coloured chalks on a blackboard, particularly. Right from the repetitive costumes to selfsame places, it can be patently descried that the movie has been shot in 27 days merely, in one go. The dialogues are lewd consummately. Ponty (Bharath Srinivasan) points to Sunny's breasts and says Tera Poora Dimaag Idhar hai, to which Sunny replies back pointing towards his Thing, Agar Mera Dimaag Idhar Hota To Teri Mardangi Udhar Gir Gyi Hoti. The grotesqueness could be felt easily. The only plus point in the movie is its brisk editing, which, especially through the penultimate & ultimate moments takes the movie to tad interesting zone, where the director spills the beans, but then the story is too late to savour. The music is totally circumstanced, one that is excogitated to upbuild and carry forward the story. However two standout tracks, 'Kabhi Jo Badal Barse' (Music Director: Toshi Sabri, Sharib Sabri; Lyricist: Azeem Shirazi, A M Turaz; Singer: Arjit Singh) and 'Eggjactly' (Music Director/Lyricist/Singer: Javed Jaffrey), are putative killer & mordant tracks respectively. The rest of the songs, 'Full Jhol' (Music Director/Singer: Mika Singh; Lyricist: Abhiyan Rajhans), 'Bol Bugger Bol' (Music Director: John Stewart; Singer: Remo Fernandes), 'Jackpot Jeetna' (Music Director: John Stewart; Singer: Sunidhi Chauhan) and 'Now You See Now You Don't' (Music Director: Mika Singh; Lyricist: Ramya Iyer, Kaizad Gustad; Singer: Ramya Iyer) are substandard tracks teetotally.
Sachin Joshi is the producer of the film and which is why he gets to portray his talent as the lead actor too. He introduces the movie but I must admit, he is patently pathetic, consummately in his dialogue delivery, body language and expressions. What Boom is for Katrina Kaif, Jackpot is to Sunny Leone. She is merely a glamorous prop with firang accent. She is sexy and manipulative. She is evidently better than what she did in Jism 2 but still the fact remains the same that acting is not her cup of tea. The chemistry with Sachin too doesn't ooze oomph and is unbaked. It's enthralling to see her act right in front of her husband Daniel Weber, who has a suave mannered cameo. Sunny's fans won't get enough of her this time too, alike Jism 2, except a striptease scene in the penultimate moments, where her raw energy is overwhelming. But her fans do know well where to search for instead! Makrand Deshpande is befitting in his role of a lax policeman cum subsidiary in con. Bharath Srinivasan debuts competently. Though Naseeruddin Shah would regret after watching complete movie, he's the lone actor who has given a stellar performance.
On the whole, Jackpot has cleverly portrayed second half but overall, the movie cons the viewers big time into a jaded journey. It's candidly one of the worst movie to have churned out of Bollywood. Don't even THINK of watching this movie. A colossal disappointment that will bore the movie buffs to death and hence, wouldn't translate into footfalls!
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