Phas Gaye re Obama (PGRO) based at the time of the global economic recession, is the story of Om Shastri (Rajat Kapoor) who, once a successful business-man in the USA, is now broke and faced with the prospect of finding himself and his family without a home to live in. Left with no other choice he decides to visit India to sell his ancestral mansion and honor his financial obligations in the US. While the horrified attention of the world was fixated on badly faltering giant corporations, the little heard-of Kidnapping Industry in Om Shastri's village was going through times as rough as any other. Not only did the hostage's family reduce the ransom negotiation into a ridiculous Palika-Bazaar bargain they even asked back the kidnappers for loans. But as Om Shastri sets foot in his village kidnappers' sentiments soar as if Barack Obama himself had sanctioned a billion-dollar bail-out for this ailing industry. Through a series of hilarious plots Om Shastri touches the lives of several kidnapping gangs climaxing at the big-daddy of this Industry.
Even though the plot of PGRO is virginal the concept has similarities to films like Khosla Ka Ghosla, 99, Sankat City, Ek Chalees Ki Last Local etc. in terms of the main protagonists getting unintentionally involved in the matters of the mafia, illegal money and through their ingenuous wits coming out unscathed and even richer on the other side.
As is common to such films, PGRO also relies on well-crafted characters with ridiculous peculiarities and ironic scenes such as Mantriji (Amol Gupte) sacrificing a goat during the inauguration of a bridge while holding the portfolio of Ministry of Animal Welfare. The humor is restrained and at times subtle as opposed to cocky, laugh-out-loud wisecracks.
Special mention for the background score that cleverly puts a variety of music ranging from 60's style Nirupa Roy-ish sitar twangs to Chak De India style exhorting crescendos to the most unexpected of scenes and characters.
A slightly faster screenplay could have raised the prospects of PGRO's box-office success but if you are used to subtle humor then you will not complain.
Quite liked the movie - 7 on 10.
Even though the plot of PGRO is virginal the concept has similarities to films like Khosla Ka Ghosla, 99, Sankat City, Ek Chalees Ki Last Local etc. in terms of the main protagonists getting unintentionally involved in the matters of the mafia, illegal money and through their ingenuous wits coming out unscathed and even richer on the other side.
As is common to such films, PGRO also relies on well-crafted characters with ridiculous peculiarities and ironic scenes such as Mantriji (Amol Gupte) sacrificing a goat during the inauguration of a bridge while holding the portfolio of Ministry of Animal Welfare. The humor is restrained and at times subtle as opposed to cocky, laugh-out-loud wisecracks.
Special mention for the background score that cleverly puts a variety of music ranging from 60's style Nirupa Roy-ish sitar twangs to Chak De India style exhorting crescendos to the most unexpected of scenes and characters.
A slightly faster screenplay could have raised the prospects of PGRO's box-office success but if you are used to subtle humor then you will not complain.
Quite liked the movie - 7 on 10.