Happy Patel review: Vir Das' absurd comedy redefines Bollywood spy genre

With his directorial debut Vir Das rewrites the rules of the Bollywood spy genre turning it into a laughriotBollywood spies whether its Salman Khan in all 3 Tiger movies or Shah Rukh Khan in Pathan aremacho hypermasculine men with toned sixpack abs a perspicacious intellect and a largerthanlife melodramatic love storyBut then in enters Happy PaisleySmith Vir Das the adopted son of two of Britains greatest spies who is with his bumbling blundering ways to put it mildly an utter failure at being a spy Happy is fond of cooking and ballet and dances to I am an Alpha Male while making his signature recipes inverting every archetype of a Bollywood spy Not only has he failed the MI6 test 7 times but he also doesnt realise hes Indian until he accidentally overhears his dadsThe movie opens with a flashback sequence in Panjore Goa Jimmy Aamir Khan the Don of Goa chases British spies named Agents Tea and Crumpets yes seriously on a mission screaming for the British to get out of India A gunfight ensues with a bullet hitting Aamir as well as a maid Sakhubai Sumukhi Suresh in the crossfire A dying Aamirs daughter Mona Singh vows to continue his legacy and become the next Don while the spies take in the maids infant son Vir Das and raise him in LondonThe story begins when Happy discovering his Indian roots volunteers for a dangerous highprofile rescue mission in Goa to return to his homeland As his mission unfolds you quickly realise that this is a film in which anything goes The narrative constantly switches between playing out as a gangster actioner a romantic comedy and an emotional tale of an NRI finding his rootsVir Das fits right into this absurd world His Happy is Khatarnak only in name indiscreet and easy to distract but wins you over with his earnestness He speaks Britishaccented English and Hindi with finesse mispronouncing the correct word to elicit titters Mona Singh as the lady Don Mama who itches for Happys blood is criminally underutlised but delivers the required ruthlessness when shooting bullets slicing fingers and serving poisoned cutletsMithila Palkar as the dancer Rupa also makes the most of her unimpactful role Her romance with Vir Das is playful and breezy and it injects energy into the film Rapper Srushti Tawade is delightful in her debut role as 16yearold tech expert Roxy who gets to have the funniest reactions to Happys addlepated statementsImran Khan plays International supermodel Milind Morea a cheeky portmanteau of Milind Soman and Dino Morea His cameo is a highlight peppered with metareferences An action sequence when Imran and Vir fly past each other lead to thunderous laughter from the audienceHowever the comedy does not always land especially faltering in the second half A lot of Happys comedic dialogues hinge on puns courtesy of his broken Hindi he often ends up using doubleentendres His parody of DDLJs Shah Rukh Khan begins to grate on the nerves after a while Settingwise it conflates Mumbai and Goa to be the same and Mona Singh as the stereotypical Goan must end each sentence with Man Three stern Marathi policewomen who highfive after each dialogue are also plain unfunny There is a paperthin pretense of calling out fairness creamsNevertheless the film makes it clear that it is only a comedy and must be enjoyed that way there is no depth to any of it It is fastpaced loping along gag after gag which culminate in an extremely goofy and unexpected climax replete with more cameos and spoofs Though nowhere close to Delhi Bellys experimental and audacious comedy Happy Patel Khatarnak Jasoos is quirky and amusing enough to entertain