Who would think we are in 2022? The makers are not responsible forNikama‘, a Telugu remake hit ‘Middle Class Abbayi’, because they came up with a movie so full of mothballs that it would have been rejected outright even in the ’80s.
Jobless Adi (Abhimanyu Dassani) is just another version of your standard Bollywood hero. Naughty, he made a lot of his affectionate family, which includes an older brother (Samir Sonny), and a seemingly strict sister-in-law (Shilpa Shetty). But we all know Uday is just waiting for his time, waiting for a chance to reveal his true colors.
Meanwhile, there’s a cute compulsive encounter with a college girl (Shirley Setia), who can’t be seen inside the classroom. Back in the day, the heroine was seen holding at least one book. Here is a guide to hair and makeup and nothing else.
This is also a movie that’s meant to be Shilpa ShettyBack, so for one price, we get two champions. Shetty plays a small-town government officer, and faces off against the local badie (Abhimanyu Singh), who lives in a mansion and is always surrounded by a group of frowning goons.
This is your movie: Adi and “maa samaan” Bhabhi take on the very bad guy. Set pieces featuring bike chases, fight scenes, bloody parties, and a single young man who challenges all comers. And to know that they did not forget, a few dances and songs.
There’s not a single thing about this movie that we haven’t watched over a billion times before. Unless you think Mrs. Shetty is trying to be a badass job. Or maybe that’s what the filmmakers think. Abhimanyu Dasani does a fair job of playing another version of Salman Khan, who was a similar hero in his mother’s 1989 appearance, “Maine Pyar Kiya”. The only thing missing is the shirtless scene.
Nikama is only 2.5 hours of questioning about the future of Bollywood. If that’s what we get as a new movie with a new hero, showing signs of promise in its first two rounds, then, well, it’s time to go home.
Film crew Nikama: Abhimanyu Dasani, Shilpa Shetty, Shirley Setia, Abhimanyu Singh, Sameer Soni, Vikram Gokhal
Director of the movie Nikama: Saber Khan
Nikamma movie rating: half star
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