Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! is a refreshing pleasure

Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!
Cast: Abhay Deol, Neetu Chandra
Director: Dibakar Banerjee
Rating: ***1/2

Watching Dibakar Banerjee's sophomore offering was a refreshing pleasure. Carrying on from his debut Khosla Ka Ghosla, he revisits his home city of Delhi and in Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye he presents the story of an ambitious thief seeking infamy.

Extremely well written and cast, this is a film that uses humour and some over-the-top characters to make many more layered and pertinent comments on society today. Especially interesting and important is the class comment played out through young Lucky's desires and aspirations which lead him to adopt the shortcut of crime to upscale his life.

It also touches on our ability to brush uncomfortable subjects under the carpet and on the contemporary phenomenon of celebrity and sensationalising news.

Based on true stories, we follow 15-year-old Lucky's coming of age, growing up in West Delhi in a humble home with his father and father's mistress, watching privileged school kids riding in big cars and buying greeting cards.

Dreaming of a shiny, happy world, Lucky seeks escape from his unpleasant life, growing up to become a master thief who will steal anything he can or wants, from TV sets to Mercedes cars and pet dogs. He falls in love with Sonal, even as her sister Dolly attempts to seduce him.

Lucky shows no fear. He is motivated by the good life and even gets a taste for fame, portrayed via crime shows on his crimes. As we observe Lucky's journey and root for him, reluctantly perhaps, we encounter Paresh Rawal in a triple role — as his father; as Gogi Bhai, a band leader, and a conduit for stolen goods; and Dr Handa, a sympathiser who turns exploiter. Rawal is reliable and performs at a standard we expect, but not beyond. It is Abhay Deol who surprises and steals our hearts. And all credit to writers Banerjee and Urmi Juvekar for capturing the Dilli dialect superbly.

The casting, especially the Manjot Singh as the young Lucky and Richa Chadda as Dolly, are noteworthy. Banerjee uses a largely unknown crew which adds freshness. Comedy couches comment but fortunately does not moralise.