SAAT UCHAKKEY An under-crooked tale

Saat Uchakkey is the directorial debut of Sanjeev Sharma,

songwriter, and theater man, and maybe this movie is,
definitely, evident that its his first time. Anupam Kher is a
diwan living in a haveli, which a Muslim woman claims its
hers, and Kalawati who exists, only, in dreams.
The opening scene at a psychiatric ward with a senior doctor
advising his understudy to leeway bit of optimism and soon we
know to get familiar with the patient under observation. Bichchi
(Annu Kapoor), who is God/patient/narrator goes on rambling
about a treasure buried in the depths of haveli and many more
sermons so loud and damaging, ones ears can go numb from
stinging.
Well, no one but Pappi (Manoj Bajpayee) notices few words out
of his non-stop haggling, and thus sets out to make money the
easy way. We see him standing on the balcony wearing a salwar
and his foot on the railing. He looks down at the courtyard
below and stands as if he is little courage away from fleeing but
still alert enough to do it. this just portrays his whole character
bluff and limited guts.
This story revolves around Pappis dream to be quick-rich and
buys lottery so that he can win a killing one day, and marry his
girlfriend Sona (Aditi Sharma). He needs accomplices who have
same desires and so he gets them. His partners in crime are
metalsmith Khappe (Aparshakti Khurana), Haggu (Nitin Bhasin),
a gambler called Ajji (Vipul Vig), trinkets and knick-knack seller
Babbe (Jatin Sarna); and last but the not the least, the multi-
talented petty criminal Jaggi (Vijay Raaz). These make up the
seven rogues of the title Saat Uchakkey.
Tejpal (Kay Kay Menon), who is also looking for marrying Sona,
is suspicious that there is something cooking. He is a good cop
with good character. And because of this Sona, a smart girl,
plays him and Pappi according to her needs. She knows how to
make them revolve around her and get the sun shining.
Everything takes place in Old Delhi, not the ones with Jama
Masjid and Red Fort in the background, close-knit houses and
kite-flying. This is more about that Old Delhi, where the ghost
stories are still alive and fuelled.
In the first half, it is all about cussing. There are scenes when
the words are paused or mute but later on even those little
beeeeps is missing. Maybe censor board people realized that
muting these words will make this movie a silent movie.
It is as good as a crash course in abusive ranting, but who
doesnt cuss these days. There are many who cant speak a
single sentence without hurling a cuss out. But thats not what
this is about. Director has taken up the whole first half in
developing the characters who are either fighting each other or
shoving things behind their backs. It is unclear till then what
the movie is going at. This is clear only in the second half when
they have realized that there are too many loose ends to tie up
to make it comprehendible.
Saat Uchakkey is a comic caper that has gone wrong. It was
made to be witty, wicked, flights of fancy and gritty realism.
Sadly, it just ended up being shy of creativity or more of
conveying what broth was cooked up in writers mind.
It could have been a laugh riot considering the three actors,
Manoj Bajpayee, Vijay Raaz, and Kay Kay Menon; who are
known for their comic timings, satires, and histrionics. There
were times when a roll of laughter is let out and it is truly
enjoyable when you look at each actor playing their characters
perfectly.
What lacked after such good performance was the undercooked
script. The narrative also doesnt help in bringing the story back
on track. It is just side-railed or on a wrong rail altogether. Over-
aspiration from a script that is under-written. Maybe, I am
trying to say that you get what is needed but left with a feeling
of incompleteness.