Good Boy Bad Boy - Review

By: Taran Adarsh, IndiaFM
Friday, May 11, 2007
A few decades ago, the Dilip Kumar starrer Ram Aur Shyam worked big time due to its novel premise, among other things. The concept of a seedha-saadha guy and his street-smart twin brother and the incidents that follow kept you thoroughly entertained.

Good Boy Bad Boy bears an uncanny resemblance to Ram Aur Shyam, since Good Boy Bad Boy is also about the sharif [Tusshar] and the not-so-sharif [Emraan] and how the confusion of names brings the best out of the two in the end.

Unfortunately, this good idea is highly under-nourished, which results in a fare that's pointless, emotionless, dramaless, humorless and impactless. Honestly, the concept had tremendous scope to entertain since the film is set in a college campus. But the screenplay is so dull and dreary that barring a few laughs in a scene or two, you actually leave with a frown on your face.

It's indeed surprising that someone as talented as Ashwini Choudhary, who helmed the sensitive Dhoop, is at the helm of affairs here. To cut a long story short, Good Boy Bad Boy has nothing worth recalling!

Rajan Malhotra [Tusshar Kapoor] and Raju Malhotra [Emraan Hashmi] are poles apart.

Rajan is a proverbial bookworm, forever lost in studies and completely oblivious to the frolicking of a college dude. He hails from a well-to-do background and his parents [Rakesh Bedi, Navni Parihar] are constantly worried due to his somber nature and his lack of interest in any extra curricular activities.

Raju has absolutely no time for studies as playing notorious pranks on others takes up most of his time on a daily basis. His father [Anang Desai, mother: Prabha Sinha] constantly ridicules him for his wayward ways. As fate would have it, the identity cards of Rajan and Raju get swapped.

The one thing you look forward to in Good Boy Bad Boy is ample laughs. But what unfolds is anything but a fun ride. The film has a young look, but not once do you feel the youthful energy flowing out of the screen.

The confusion of names is so confusing itself. Okay, the identity cards get changed since both have the same initials [R. Malhotra], but when they're addressed with different names in the college auditorium by the principal, even in front of their parents, not once does anyone raise an eyebrow. How come?

Besides a tacky script, Good Boy Bad Boy also lacks a foot-tapping score to uplift the goings-on. The music is so unlike Himesh Reshammiya this time around. What happened, Himesh?

Director Ashwini Chaudhary is saddled with a poor script, so expecting him to infuse life with his execution is asking for the moon. Cinematography [Manoj Soni] too lacks the sheen that films of today boast of. Dialogues are funny at places.

Emraan has a flair for comedy and that shows on the screen. He is quite likable. Tusshar Kapoor is pleasant, but how one wishes the writer would've offered him better scenes. Isha Sharvani wears a set of two expressions all through. Tanushree Dutta doesn't work. Also, why is her makeup so dark? Paresh Rawal is a letdown. Kabir Sadanand is expressive. Sushmita Mukherjee is wasted.

On the whole, Good Boy Bad Boy disappoints big time.