Critics’ Verdict: ‘Banjo’ Fails to Impress

Despite Riteish Deshmukh’s performance, ‘Banjo’ doesn’t deliver.

Film: Banjo
Director: Ravi Jadhav
Cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Nargis Fakhri

Excerpts from reviews of Banjo:

Jadhav, the acclaimed Marathi director, scores well in creating an authentic seaside slum backdrop for Taarat (Riteish Deshmukh) and his band and reproducing the street slang that gives the film much of its humour. But Jadhav flubs the rest – the story and its treatment are trite, the contrivances are endless, the running time (137 minutes) stretched and the music by Vishal-Shekhar pedestrian except for one foot-tapping track. Fakhri’s acting skills, or their lack, were never in doubt, but Deshmukh is no thespian either. Their resolutely hackneyed lady-and-the-tramp romance does not quite take off, and their scenes together have as much spark as an overused electric plug.

Nandini Ramnath (Scroll.in)

Avowedly dedicated to “street musicians all around the world”, Banjo is a stodgy, sluggish film that makes a great deal of noise about giving true performers their due. It barely gets its noble point across. Coming from Ravi Jadhav, a super-successful Marathi filmmaker who has such critical/commercial hits as Natarang, Bal Gandharva and Balak Palak to his credit, this film is a huge and surprising letdown. Even the peppy music (Vishal-Shekhar) and the lively lyrics (Amitabh Bhattacharya) cannot bring this comatose film to life. It is just too good at playing dead.

Saibal Chatterjee (Movies.Ndtv.com)

There are many threads simultaneously running and we don’t know what to focus on. And while we try to wrap our heads around this, the songs one after the other only seem like cacophonic distractions! Not exactly the kind of feeling a musical should ideally leave us with!There is the whole ‘grab chawl land to build commercial property’ angle that is soon abandoned. A rivalry between bands then keeps us company for some time till that evaporates too.In between, love blossoms between Riteish Deshmukh, the Banjo player, and Nargis the musician who knows nothing else than to sway her hands like an orchestra conductor! How? He unabashedly checks out her long legs and short shorts and that’s about it. Some more music is played and a little more confusion created with tons of casual sexism thrown in. Riteish, playing Taraat the brilliant banjo player, money extortionist and bhai with a golden heart all rolled into one, isn’t all that bad. But there is precious little that he can do when award-winning director Ravi Jhadhav lets him down so badly.

Stutee Ghosh (TheQuint.com)