An archive of Hindi movie reviews and ratings from 2010 to 2020.
  • Bangistan

    34

    Generally unfavourable reviews (?)
    Based on 24 critics

    Cast & Crew

    Summary

    Bangistan is a whip smart and uproarious satire on fundamentalism and the story of two unlikely terrorists, the antitheses of each other, with a common destructive goal. Concerned by the unrest in the name of religion, Subcontinental leaders of Muslims and Hindus, the Imam and the Shankaracharya, announce that they're attending the International Peace Conference in Krakow in a joint effort to help unite the two religions in perpetual harmony. Rival rabble-rousing ragtag organizations, the Islamist Al-Kaam Tamam and right-wing political party Maa Ka Dal separately recruit and brainwash Hafeez and Praveen to suicide bomb the conference so that they may continue to wield their local influence. After a rigorous, and hilarious, 'training' period the two men switch their religious identities to stay under the radar. Hafeez, the jihadi, masquerades as a conservative Hindu, Ishwarchand; while Praveen, the Hindu soldier, dons the garb of a practicing Muslim, Allahrakha. Focused on the mission, they reach Krakow and end up staying together in the same apartment. The two men go great lengths to protect their real identities from the world and each other as they acquire bombs and plan their mission, teetering on the edge of revelation at key moments. Their adventures involve a local cop on their scent and desperate to make a name for himself, the foxy pub owner who takes the two under her wings, a Bangladeshi fixer out to make a quick buck, the assortment of locals they meet, and the cultural impact of their exotic experiences in the city thrown into the mix. A series of serendipitous comic events ends in an epic, dramatic, finale that brings the world to Krakow and covers the range of emotions, leaving you breathless while sending across a universally affirmative message that all religions are but different doorways to the same destination.

    Trailer

Critic reviews and ratings

  • ...has a mighty interesting concept with a good intention. It should have translated into a film to remember, but unfortunately it doesn't. However, there are some flashes of brilliance, which are unmissable.

    59

    Critic rating (?)

  • Despite the dry choice of subject, Bangistan makes valiant attempts to keep the humour alive during its two-hour running time.

    59

    Critic rating (?)

  • The premise on which Bangistan rests is very interesting as it brings out the differences between religious prejudices and intolerances without being overtly preachy.

    59

    Critic rating (?)

  • The premise offered the maker a lot to play around with. If only, he could put it all together, without resorting to a predictable end.

    59

    Critic rating (?)

  • Okay, okay, we get it. It is satire. The satire is witty too. But then, what? Nothing beyond the concept really. Also, does satire always have to be preachy?

    49

    Critic rating (?)

  • True to its title, Bangistan makes more than its share of noise. But this mildly wacky satire on the futility of religious bigotry does not make too much sense.

    39

    Critic rating (?)

  • You go into see a light, funny film but you soon realise this one is too preachy and predictable to achieve that.

    39

    Critic rating (?)

  • It's likely that buried somewhere under all those unfunny jokes, simplistic sermons, and cringe-inducing melodrama, there may have been a promising idea at the heart of Bangistan.

    39

    Critic rating (?)

  • Pity, that director Karan Anshuman’s clever eye for detail and in-jokes are left in the lurch. This one could've been such a riot, it had so much promise.

    39

    Critic rating (?)

  • ...a pointless film that fails to make you laugh or entertain.

    29

    Critic rating (?)

  • ...the film refuses to take chances, to buck the rules, to soar beyond the cushy confines of unending mediocrity.

    29

    Critic rating (?)

  • Watch it if you are a sadistic daredevil who has way too much free time on his/her hands (I find your lack of faith (in me) disturbing).

    29

    Critic rating (?)

  • A mess of good intentions and bad jokes.

    29

    Critic rating (?)

  • The film finds its laughs in the odd moment, but comes off, over all, flat and tepid.

    29

    Critic rating (?)

  • One struggles to find real humorous moments in Karan Anshuman's directorial debut, Bangistan, which is rather ambitious as it looks to both amuse and preach like Rajkumar Hirani's PK did more recently.

    29

    Critic rating (?)

  • ...attempts to tell a well-intentioned message through humour, and in the end, both are lost on the viewer. The film, based on our novice bombers, is sadly low-impact!

    29

    Critic rating (?)

  • Karan and his team fail to create a screenplay that engages. They did have a grand idea. Karan fails to transform that into a convicting film.

    29

    Critic rating (?)

  • Anshuman has ideas – but he doesn’t know what to do with those ideas on screen.

    29

    Critic rating (?)

  • Buried somewhere deep in the 135 minutes of Bangistan is a smart satire on religion.

    29

    Critic rating (?)

  • In T.S. Eliot's famous words, the film begins and ends 'not with a bang, but with a whimper'.

    19

    Critic rating (?)

  • ...is eventually reduced to being a satire on the notion of a satire, falling tremendously short of a bang for your buck.

    19

    Critic rating (?)

  • A comedy that is long on gags and short on satire, with a simplistic sermon straight out of dummies guide to secularism.

    19

    Critic rating (?)

  • The film, however, is most disappointing when it takes a sudden tonal shift from a silly satire to a preachy appeal for world peace.

    19

    Critic rating (?)

  • Is Bangistan a comedy? I wish it was! I was hoping it was. I read it was. Did the director even realize that he shifted focus and was just meandering through in the first half? I hope so.

    09

    Critic rating (?)

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