Review: Bongu

Film: Bongu

Director: Taj

Cast: Natraj Subramanian (Natty), Ruhi Singh, Manisha Shree, Atul Kulkarni, Munishkanth, Arjun, Sharath Lokathishwa, Mayilsamy and Chaams.

Music: Srikanth Deva

Stars – Three and a half

One of Tamil cinema’s fast rising comedians, Arjun, during a press conference, had said that he chose to do this film the moment he got to know that the script had been okayed by ace cameraman and actor Natraj Subramanian.

“I didn’t ask for anything else. I knew this guy had a gift for picking the right scripts and so immediately agreed as soon as I knew he was on board,” the actor had said. At that point, quite a few people wondered if that was the right thing to do.

Today, all those doubts can be safely put to rest for the film is definitely entertaining and has the potential to rake in the moolah at the box office.

Arjun’s decision to trust Natty’s script picking ability seems to have paid off big time. Natty seems to have established a name for himself when it comes to picking the right scripts and Bongu only goes on to enhance this reputation of his.

The film does what one expects it to do. It entertains and entertains thoroughly.

Dev (Natty), Janani (Ruhi Singh) and Baskar(Arjun) are technically qualified car salespersons, who have been blacklisted by the industry for no fault of theirs.

So, what is it that the three have done to be blacklisted? Well, it all starts one day with a Member of Parliament turning up at their showroom to book a costly Rolls Royce car to present as a birthday gift to his daughter.

He makes the payment in full and asks that the car be delivered to his daughter.

As the three salespersons are on the verge of delivering the brand new Rolls Royce, they are waylaid by a gang, who at gunpoint, steal the car.

The company files a police complaint and eventually, the police, unable to track the robbers, pins the crime on the three salespersons delivering the car.

So, Dev and Baskar end up in prison, where they meet another convict, Babu (Rajan) who turns a friend. Eventually, after they get released, Dev, Baskar and Janani search for jobs but are unable to find any, thanks to their names having been blacklisted. It is at this time that Babu comes to their aid. He takes them to a guy called Bai, a guy who is big time into stealing cars.

Bai says he’ll offer them work but on the condition that they pass a test. The test he keeps for them is that they have to steal a costly foreign car that is on the premises of a jewellery store. The four of them get to work and manage to steal the car, which they eventually find out has been used to stash black money to the tune of Rs 10 crore. They soon take a liking for flicking cars and eventually find out that the car belongs to a big time thug and a feared don from Madurai called Pandian (Sharath Lokethishwa).

Bai’s next assignment for the team, which has now grown in strength to five with the addition of Mani (Munishkanth), is that they have to rob 10 costly cars of Pandian. More importantly, they have to steal the cars from Madurai, Pandian’s stronghold.

When the team gets down to work and reaches Madurai, Dev gets to know that one of the cars that they are about to steal is the very same car that was stolen from them when they were about to deliver it to the MP’s daughter. Dev decides to dig deeper and more skeletons tumble out of the cupboard. The team now decides to take revenge on Pandian for having ruined their careers. How they do it is what the film is all about.

Natty as Dev is perfect. He comes across as a self-assured, pragmatic and confident leader, who can quickly think on his feet. Arjun as Baskar provides great support and is a pleasure to watch on screen. Munishkanth as Mani plays a simpleton yet again in this film but he does it with so much flair that it is hardly boring.

Ruhi Singh does a neat and convincing job and has no problems portraying the role of a technically suave salesperson. One other person whose work deserves a huge round of applause is that of Chaams. The comedian appears for just 10 to 15 minutes in the second half but steals the show by a big margin. His sense of timing and his punch lines are perfect and leave the audience roaring with laughter. Srikanth Deva’s music is just about Okay.

The film, on the whole, is worth watching once.