Monday, Sep 28, 2026

Coolie No 1: An eyesore of sorts

'Coolie No. 1' starring Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan is not up to the mark

By L Ravichander

Updated On - 27 December 2020, 05:51 PM

This is unbelievable shoddy stuff from the Dhawan stables. To be just, David Dhawan (DD) was never a great filmmaker. He ensures the track record is safe. During his heyday, his films depended upon the comic timing of the irreplaceable Govinda and his chemistry with the likes of Karisma and Raveena. That denied, the end product is undecanted suffering for the brave and indiscreet. Not a moment of respite for those who seek sane or classy in a film that, as ever, pans from start to eternity.

To the uninitiated, DD in the earlier outing told the tale of an avenging marriage broker who is insulted by a rich businessman in the course of finding a match for his daughter. The plan works when a coolie from the railway station falls in love with the rich girl. In the make-believe Bollywood factor of poor intelligence, it does not take long for presenting the coolie as a billionaire. Cars/bungalows changed in a few seconds. Given artistic(?) licence, even this is accepted. The costumes, however, are an eyesore. To those who felt the Govinda-Karisma dress sense was a disaster, this is chaos. The riot of colours gets you annoyed – as does the ‘over-the-top’ theme about everything in the film.

Raju (Varun Dhawan) as orphan grows up as the child of the railway platforms. The guy with the golden heart, fine biceps and brilliant dancing feet is rejected at matrimony. With a vengeance, he falls in love with a photograph that comes with a whiff of fresh air – Sarah (Sara Ali Khan). A sentence about this Goan family — papa Jeffrey Rosario (Paresh Rawal), grandma (Bharati Achrekar), sister Anju Rosario (Shikha Talsania) and uncle Pintu (Rajpal Yadav) are on ‘orbit crazy’! Papa wants Ritchie Rich for a son-in-law. He insults Pandit Jai Kishan (Javed Jafri). This ridiculous circus of clowns go about ‘entertaining’ you. The ‘see and hear’ of this exaggerated nonsense is directed on your nerves.

Bad. Actually terrible. This Varun Dhawan outing does the repute singular harm. There is abject chemistry between Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan. She too does her reputation no good. DD should not have done Coolie No. 1 in the first place. Govinda was a good enough cause. Second time around that is conspicuously missing.

Give the film a royal ignore – just like DD gives sanity.

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