Rajkummar’s ‘Made in China’ Is a Lukewarm Comedy Turned PSA
The film also stars Gajraj Rao and Boman Irani.
Made in China is a film that till it’s last scene doesn’t know what it wants to be . It starts off as a thriller when a Chinese diplomat on a trip to Gujarat dies mysteriously overdosing on what appears to be a killer aphrodisiac. Then one character speaks about how Indians might want better roads but what they really need is better sex!
Raghu aka Rajkumar Rao is a harmless young man who spends time watching motivational videos by a certain “Chopra” (Gajraj Rao) on TV and trying to navigate the losses from his various entrepreneurial misadventures. When he decides to venture into an Indo-Chinese business of a sex potion that claims to be the cure for all kinds of disappointments in bed one is bound to believe that a sex comedy is what the makers are after!
But then he teams up with sexologist Dr Tribhuvan Vardhi (Boman Irani) and the film abruptly gives up its frothiness as it turns into a public service announcement for more openness on the subject of sex and reproductive health. Even this is an insincere effort with stale euphemisms bandied around by a film that wants to promote frank conversation around the taboo topic!
It’s a first though, to come out of a Rajkummar-starrer so disappointed. Directed by Milhil Musale and written by Niren Bhatt, Made in China never takes off. There are some sporadically funny moments like the scene where Boman Irani speaks to a gathering of unsuspecting parents of school kids about sex related queries and the hilarious outcome it leads to. At other times it just remains stagnant trying to be a lot of things and ends up coming to a naught!
Rajkummar Rao and Boman Irani are class actors and while they put all the effort in their respective roles everyone else seems to get a raw deal. Sumit Vyas hardly gets anything to play with. Mauni Roy is Rajkummar’s on screen wife and while we are told that the two have a great unconventional marriage and are totally in love, Raghu’s inability to share his business idea with his own wife seems strange!
Gajraj Rao is great fun to watch as he plays a motivational speaker “Chopra” and adds an interesting twist to his portrayal. One only wishes we had more of him in the movie. Paresh Rawal, while sharing his tip for a business to succeed says that “customer is a c#%^*$a!” The word of course is beeped out but one is only too familiar with the lip movements of the characters mouthing them. By the end of Made in China one wonders if the makers thought the same about us viewers!
It’s a frustratingly below average film and had it not been for Rajkummar Rao and Boman Irani not even worth a mention. A forgettable affair! 2 Quints out of 5!!
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