Jeevan Ya Bheema Con? Review: Arshad Warsi, Vijay Raaz Film Lacks Humour

Arshad Warsi, Vijay Raaz and Brijendra Kala have all the comic chops, but Jeevan Ya Bheema Con? cannot squeeze even a single laugh out of them, groans Sreeju Sudhakaran.

IMAGE: Arshad Warsi and Sanjeeda Shaikh in Jeevan Ya Bheema Con?

We all know Arshad Warsi is a fine actor when it comes to comedy. We also know Vijay Raaz and Brijendra Kala are versatile actors for whom comedy comes naturally. But it hardly matters if you bring the best actors in the business together and simply do not know how to utilise their comic timing.

Jeevan Ya Bheema Con? feels like a futile, annoyingly humourless exercise. It fails to utilise these talents and wastes a plot with the potential to be a black comedy goldmine.

 

A Promising Premise Undermined

The film was earlier titled Jeevan Bheema Yojana, a clever play on its three principal characters: Jeevan (Arshad Warsi) and Yojana (Sanjeeda Sheikh) are a married couple drowning in debt, and Bheema (Arshad Warsi again) is Jeevan’s alcoholic doppelgänger.

That title would have been the smartest thing about the movie (not I have met anyone named Yojana ever). Unfortunately, the powers higher up robbed it of its most interesting quirk.

Coming to the plot, Jeevan and Yojana are attempting an insurance fraud to secure the cash to pay off their debts, and Bheema, unknowingly, has a crucial part to play in their con game.

However, Bheema’s inclusion in this scheme comes with two major risks: Vinayak (Vijay Raaz), a local gangster, and his acolyte Manu (Brijendra Kala). They believe Bheema is just pretending to be Jeevan and have some unfinished business to settle with him.

Thrown into this chaos is their annoying landlady, Yashika (Pooja Chopra), who keeps hitting on Jeevan, alongside a suspicious insurance agent (the late Atul Parchure).

Unfunny Toilet Humour

Most of the drama unfolds within the couple’s rented house, with characters constantly shouting and throwing wild allegations at each other. It gives off the distinct feel of a stage play.

Just not a funny one.

Jeevan Ya Bheema Con? is directed by Abhishek Dogra, who previously made Dolly Ki Doli and FryDay. If you look at his filmography, you will find interesting subjects with solid comic possibilities that attract actors with good comedic sense (Dolly Ki Doli had a hilarious Rajkummar Rao, while FryDay had Govinda!).

Yet, his films keep faltering when it comes to writing smart jokes and even when there are some, they get bogged down by lacklustre execution. These flaws, unfortunately, bleed right into his new movie.

I don’t know about you, but I find it hard to laugh when a character’s sole defining quirk is that he keeps farting. Disgust at constant gastric sounds is simply not the right measure for humour. Too many stinky sounds kill your already non-existent punchline!

Arshad Warsi’s shtick here is to just be Arshad Warsi, delivering lines in that trademark manner that usually works with better placement and timing (remember the Gafoor intro scene in The Ba***ds of Bollywood?). In Jeevan Ya Bheema Con?, all his attempts to try something amusing with his dialogue delivery are just as painful to watch as Brijendra Kala being reduced to a walking gas bag.

Muddled Storytelling

Vijay Raaz goes through the motions too, though his usual drawling delivery and disengaged body language manage to stand out slightly better than the weak material he is handed.

I felt bad for Sanjeeda Sheikh. She is a fine actress and convincing as the woman caught in the crossfire of the men’s confusing accusations. This is also her second pairing with Arshad Warsi in the same year after Dhamaal 4. Same hero, same genre, same glaring lack of humour.

Pooja Chopra’s character is meant to be a pot-stirrer, someone who revels in the chaos. But half the things she does make zero sense.

Take her lying to the gangsters that she knows what they want, only for the script to later reveal she has absolutely no clue. As if the screenplay was not already muddled and haywire enough, it needlessly throws in the extra drama of a suspected extramarital affair. Every single scene where Yashika tries to make a sexual pass at Jeevan is pure cringe (with an uncomfortable hint of potential sexual assault).

Not that the rest of the film fare any any better.

Even the attempts to infuse some psychological confusion, like the gangsters trying to convince Yojana that Jeevan is actually Bheema, keep falling flat. As his wife, it would realistically take her a couple of seconds to figure out the truth. The movie eventually lets her do exactly that, but the sheer delay in reaching that conclusion is what becomes bothersome.

The frustrating part is that you can actually pick out specific scenes that would have worked quite well in a more competently made film. Picture a drugged Jeevan and Vinayak clumsily trying to punch each other, or Jeevan failing a basic quiz to prove his own identity simply because he is, well, a man at the end of the day.

You could see the potential, and then you can also see the clumsiness in the handling that make these scenes lose their potential.

Burdened with loud performances, stinky humour, and direction that just cannot bring any real sense or sentiment to the chaos, Jeevan Ya Bheema Con? becomes a mediocre comedy that fails to con a single laugh out of you.

Jeevan Ya Bheema Con Review Rediff Rating: