Film: Phas Gaye Re Obama (A)
Cast: Amol Gupte, Neha Dhupia, Rajat Kapoor, Sanjay Mishra, Manu Rishi
Director: Subhash Kapoor
Rating: ***
 
An intricate plot infused with sparks of humour highlighting the problems of a recession-hit abduction industry, Phas Gaye Re Obama is a refreshing take on the otherwise anxiety-inducing global slowdown.
 
Made on a humble budget of Rs3 crore, Phas Gaye Re Obama offers the much-needed comic relief with well-sketched out (and many) characters like a wannabe NRI and a broke one mouthing amusing lines slyly commenting on the Indian obsession with the American dollar.
 
Wannabe NRI Anni (Rishi), sidekick of local gangster Bhaisaab (Mishra), is smitten by the dollar dream. He wears ties and bandanas with the Stars and Stripes print, has Obama graffiti on his walls, cheers for Obama’s “Yes we can” speeches, and even takes English classes to jet off to the land of his dreams.
 
In America, businessman Om Shastri (Kapoor) is down in the dumps and will have to let go of his home if he fails to pay up his loans. The only solution to the problem seems to be to sell off ancestral property back home in India. So Om returns to his motherland after seven years, only to find that the ancestral haveli has very little market value.
 
Meanwhile, the financial crisis in 'Amreeka' has spelt doom for, wait, the abduction business in Buland Shahr. So word quickly spreads that an NRI is in town. In no time, Om is abducted by Bhaisaab and his men. Side-splitting encounters ensue.
 
Phas Gaye Re Obama is song free, which makes one feel a lot is happening on screen without a break. The only song, ‘Sara pyaar hai bekar’, sung by Kailash Kher and Dhupia, rolls along with the end credits.
The interesting plot and the film's cast are the strongest points of Phas Gaye… as director Subhash Kapoor succeeds in holding the interest of viewers till the very end. Abductors bargaining for the ransom with the abducted, the full-fledged bureaucratic abduction racket run by the local minister-cum-goon, and the clever climax all add up to Phas Gaye’s…strengths. You snigger uncontrollably at the English class teacher's scene. The film provides many other moments of non-slapstick humour.
 
Dhupia's dangerous ‘female Gabbar Singh’ act is dramatic and uptight while Kapoor’s subtle acting makes him the believable, nearly bankrupt NRI. Rishi and Mishra are the best of the lot, however, with quick lines and quite a few melodramatic moments together. Kaminey’s memorable Bhope Bhau Gupte plays with aplomb the constipated minister for animal welfare Dhananjay Singh.
 
A must watch if you are willing to laugh off bitter memories (if you still have any) of the recession and enjoy a different take on the ‘business’ of abduction in parts of India.