Story
Jeffery
Rozario
(Paresh
Rawal),
a
Goan
hotelier
wants
his
daughter
Sarah
(Sara
Ali
Khan
)
to
get
hitched
to
a
'stinking'
rich
man.
When
Pandit
Jai
Kishen
(Javed
Jafferi),
a
matchmaker
brings
a
marriage
proposal
for
Sarah,
Rozario
humiliates
him
and
the
boy's
family
because
"inn
logon
ka
rishta
pehle
se
gareebi
ke
saath
judda
hua
hai."
An
enraged
Kishen
who
considers
his
self-respect
to
be
his
pride,
decides
to
teach
him
a
lesson
and
finds
a
perfect
opportunity
when
he
comes
across
Raju
Coolie
(Varun
Dhawan),
a
railway
porter.
Meanwhile,
Raju
is
already
smitten
by
Sarah
after
having
a
glance
at
her
photograph.
Hell-bent
on
seeking
revenge
from
Rozario,
Jai
Kishen
convinces
Raju
Coolie
to
woo
Sarah
by
posing
as
a
billionaire,
Raja
Kunwar
Mahendra
Pratap
Singh.
The
greedy
Rozaria
falls
prey
to
Jai
Kishen-Raju
Coolie's
conspiracy
and
ends
up
getting
his
daughter
married
to
Raju.
On
the
other
hand,
sparks
fly
between
Raju's
mechanic
friend
Deepak
(Sahil
Vaid)
and
Sarah's
sister
Anju
(Shikha
Talsania).
When
a
series
of
incidents
threaten
to
blow
Raju's
cover,
he
cooks
up
a
story
about
having
a
estranged
twin
which
leads
to
comedy
of
errors.
Direction
First
things
first,
I
am
a
huge
fan
of
masala
entertainers
who
has
grown
up
on
a
staple
of
what
90s
generation
watched
as
kids.
Govinda-Karisma
Kapoor's
Coolie
No.
1
released
in
1995.
15
years
later,
keeping
aside
the
changing
cinematic
sensibilities,
the
comic
caper
still
manages
to
tickle
my
funny
bone.
Be
it
late
Kader
Khan's
Hoshiyaar
Chand
or
Shakti
Kapoor's
Govardhan
Mama,
David
Dhawan's
supporting
characters
packed
a
punch.
Cut
to
2020,
the
filmmaker
presents
the
same
wine
in
a
new
bottle.
Varun
Dhawan
steps
into
Govinda's
shoes
while
Sara
Ali
Khan
reprises
Karisma
Kapoor.
Despite
a
talented
supporting
cast
including
Paresh
Rawal,
Rajpal
Yadav,
Johnny
Lever
and
Anil
Dhawan,
the
film
struggles
to
stand
on
its
feet.
Reason?
The
shoddy
writing.
Further,
many
dialogues
from
the
film
are
lifted
from
the
Govinda-Karisma
Kapoor
starrer.
In
short,
David
Dhawan's
reboot
simply
means
shifting
the
original
story
to
sunnier
locations
and
expensive
hotels,
and
roping
in
new
faces.
The
flipside
to
this
is
that
you
unknowingly
find
yourself
comparing
the
new
version
to
the
old
one
simply
because
the
makers
have
nothing
novel
to
offer.
Also,
jokes
on
accent
and
body-shaming
is
so
passé.
Performances
There
is
no
denying
that
Varun
Dhawan
has
an
impeccable
comic
timing
(I
kind
of
enjoyed
his
silly
antics
and
goofiness
in
his
2014
film
Main
Tera
Hero
who
was
also
directed
by
Papa
Dhawan).
In
case
of
Coolie
No.
1,
the
young
actor
has
big
shoes
to
fill.
There
are
a
couple
of
gags
where
the
boy
makes
you
laugh
but
then,
they
are
only
as
many
as
you
can
count
on
your
fingers.
Sara
Ali
Khan
lacks
Karisma
Kapoor's
exuberance,
and
it
clearly
shows
in
her
act.
At
the
end
of
the
day,
the
young
actress
barely
manages
to
cross
the
passing
marks.
While
Varun
Dhawan
and
Sara
Ali
Khan
make
for
a
good-looking
pair
on
screen,
they
lack
Chi
Chi
and
Lolo's
vibrant
chemistry.
Paresh
Rawal
as
the
snobbish
Jeffery
Rozario
essays
his
role
with
gravitas,
though
Kader
Khan's
Hoshiyaar
Chand
has
a
cult
following
of
its
own.
Rajpal
Yadav
and
Johnny
Lever
are
good
in
their
buffoonery
parts.
Shikha
Talsania
who
was
so
much
fun
to
watch
in
Veere
Di
Wedding,
barely
gets
any
scope
to
perform
here.
Sahil
Vaid
plays
a
second
fiddle
to
Varun
Dhawan's
character
and
tries
to
make
most
of
it.
Technical
Aspects
A
scene
involving
a
child
and
a
train
is
likely
to
be
a
favourite
with
the
trolls
for
its
outlandish
VFX.
Barring
the
'Husn
Hai
Suhana'
song
based
in
a
lavish
location,
the
rest
of
the
film
has
been
shot
on
sets
and
has
nothing
new
to
offer
in
terms
of
production
value.
The
same
holds
true
for
Ravi
K
Chandran's
camerawork
and
Ritesh
Soni's
editing.
Music
The
makers
retain
'Husn
Hai
Suhana'
and
'Tujhko
Mirchi
Lagi'
from
the
original
film
to
evoke
some
nostalgia
and
we
ain't
complaining.
The
rest
two
songs-
'Teri
Bhabhi'
and
'Mummy
Kasam'
boost
of
some
infectious
dance
moves,
but
fails
to
feature
in
your
on
loop
list.
Verdict
In
one
of
the
scenes
in
the
film,
Paresh
Rawal's
character
Jeffery
Rozario
quips,
"Heaven
on
the
docks
man,
Judwaa
out
of
the
box,
man." David
Dhawan's
latest
directorial
Coolie
No.
1
turns
out
to
be
a
weaker
twin
of
the
1995
film.
All
Govinda
fans
out
there,
steer
clear
of
this
one!