Plot
A small-town
goon
and
politician
Baba
Bhandari
(Akshaye
Khanna)
conducts
the
business
of
'pakad
vivaah'
where
local
boys
are
forcibly
married
off
to
girls
who
can't
meet
the
hefty
dowry
demands.
When
Pappu
Mishra
(Priyaank
Sharma),
a
hot-shot
TV journalist
rubs
him
the
wrong
way
with
his
TV
show,
'Musibat
oodh
le
maine',
Baba
gets
him
abducted
to
be
married
off
to
a
spunky
girl
Mandira
(Riva
Kishan)
whose
family
is
unable
to
find
a
groom
for
her.
On
the
night
before
their
wedding,
Pappu
escapes
from
the
clutches
of
Baba's
henchmen,
unaware
of
his
would-be
bride's
identity.
Later,
he
and
Mandira
fall
in
love
with
each
other.
However,
their
love
story
becomes
a
three-way
one
when
Baba
Bhandari
too
ends
up
smitten
by
Mandira
and
tries
to
woo
her.
Whose
romance
will
take
a
flight?
The
rest
of
the
plot
holds
an
answer
to
that.
Direction
Karan
Vishwanath
Kashyap
who
assisted
on
films
like
Don,
Chak
De!
India
and
Bunty
Aur
Babli,
makes
his
directorial
debut
with
Sab
Kushal
Mangal.
The
film
is
entertaining
in
bits
and
pieces.
There
are
places
where
the story
shows
some
spark
but
the
weak
writing
fails
to
lift
it
up
above
the
mark.
The
director struggles
to
conjure
the
magic
of
small-town
stories
on
the
big
screen
with
this
Priyank
Sharma-Riva
Kishan-Akshaye
Khanna
starrer.
Performances
Padmini
Kolhapure's
son
Priyaank
Sharma
makes
his
Bollywood
debut
with
this
romantic
comedy.
The
young
lad
shows
some
promise
but,
it's
too
early
to
comment
on
his
acting
chops.
The
same
holds
true
for
his
leading
lady-
Ravi
Kishan's
daughter
Riva
Kishan
who
fares
a
bit
better
than
Sharma.
On
the
flip
side,
their
chemistry
is
lacklustre
and
their
reel
romance
hardly
makes
you
root
for
them.
Sab
Kushal
Mangal
is
watchable
only
because
of
Akshaye
Khanna
who
tries
to
breathe
some
life
in
the
weak
screenplay.
The
actor
single-handedly
lifts
up
the
film
from
collapsing
into
a
mediocre
watch.
The
portion
where
he
transforms
from
a
small-town
thug
to
a
coffee
drinking,
jeans-clad
'metro'
man,
is
hilarious.
Veteran
actors
like
Rakesh
Bedi,
Satish
Kaushik
and
Supriya
Pathak
end
up
with
half-baked
roles.
Technical
Aspects
Sachin
K.
Krishn's
cinematography
is
above
average.
Prashant
Singh
Rathore's
editing
scissors
needed
to
be
a
little
more
sharper
to
avoid
the
second
half
of
the
film
from
stretching
out
like
a
bubble
gum.
Music
'Zamana
Badal
Gaya'
has
some
funky
lyrics
which
register
on
your
lips.
Shriya
Saran's
special
song,
'Nayi
Wali
Jab'
leaves
you
squirming
in
your
seats.
The
rest
of
the
tracks
have
nothing
to
offer.
Verdict
During
a
cycle
rickshaw
ride,
when
Priyaank
Sharma's
character
gets
asked
by
the
driver
if
he
is
a
hero,
the
latter
is
taken
aback
and
questions
him,
'Tu
pehchana
nahin
kya?'
To
this,
the
driver
replies
back,
'Nahin,
faltu
time
kaha
hai
picture
dekhne
ko.'
Well
just
like
him,
the
audience
too
can
save
their
time.
While
Sab
Kushal
Mangal
is
well-intentioned,
it
still
fails
to
create
an
impact
because
its
heart
is
missing.
We
get
2
stars
out
of
5
for
Sab
Kushal
Mangal.