Movie Name : EMI (2008)
Movie Cast : Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Rampal, Urmila Matondkar, Ashish Choudhary, Neha Uberoi, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Malaika Arora Khan
Movie Director : Saurabh Kabra
Music Director : Chirantan Bhatt
Rating : 2 / 5
EMI peeks into the lives of - DJ Ryan (Arjun Rampal), a harried father Chandrakant Desai (Kulbhushan Kharbanda), a newly married couple Anil and Shilpa (Ashish-Neha) and a widow, Prerna (Urmila). All these have either taken huge bank loans or owe a lot of money to the credit card companies. A reckless spender, Ryan likes to enjoy a high life at the cost of plastic money. He takes great pride in being a credit card defaulter. Desai takes a Rs. 10 lakh loan for funding his wayward son’s foreign education but his son cares less about the responsibility he owes to his father. Anil and Shilpa to have a happy married life end up taking all sorts of loans which leave them very little savings in their hands at the month end what with their both’s salaries going into paying the EMIs. Prerna’s hubby had committed suicide having been unable to pay his loans but she is hell bent on proving in the court that he was murdered. All this for the sake of a Rs. 2 crore insurance claim! Misleaded she ends up paying Rs. 10 lakh to a fixer who assures of proving the case in her favour. But as the fixer dies a mysterious death, her troubles multiply. In comes, recovery agent appointed by the bank, Sattar Bhai (Dutt) who runs Goodluck Recovery Agency who aims to recover the loan amount back from these defaulters in his own unique ways. What twists and turns take place when a wannabe politician Sattar goes on to encounter these characters forms the rest of the film.
No doubt EMI is a very unique and topical subject which situations that one can easily identify with but it all goes waste when what appears realistic initially turns too filmy and unrealistic in the second half. Sattar’s character suddenly takes a U turn from a dreaded loan recovering goon to a Munna Bhai type well meaning bhai character and the plot looses its steam. The way he solves all the main characters’ loan defaulting problems is also unbelievably silly. Debutante director Kabra is technically sound but lacks a good story telling technique. Malaika’s character has no background and irritates. Her dream song with Arjun hampers the pace. The music of the film is to is so-so.
But the film is not entirely a waste of time thanks to some really hilarious moments and good acting by Sanjay Dutt and his cronies and veteran actor, Kulbhushan Kharbanda. Some scenes like bank employees luring their customers into taking high loans by sweet talk or ways of defaulters to avoid the recovery agents and dilemma of an aging father appear taken straight out of life. Amongst the hilarious sequences include, Dutt’s entry, his interactions with each of his loan defaulters, Dutt’s drinking session with his secretary, Rampal preparing Dutt for his first date with Urmila Matondkar and Dutt’s marketing strategy explanation to the bank’s Chairman.
Playing a good hearted bhai is something Dutt can claim a PhD on and he is a treat to watch. Urmila doesn’t get much scope. Rampal perfectly fits the bill. Ashish carries the same limited expressions he has been through all his previous films. Neha is easy on the eyes. Snehal Dhabi and Manoj Desai playing Dutt’s cronies are excellent and make you laugh.
EMI is the kind of a film which promises a lot through its promos but ultimately delivers an average product thanks to some really unimaginative writing!