Potholes on Indian roads are as commonplace as people slumped over phones — hard to avoid, and you’ll encounter them everywhere. Yet, it took so long for the film industry to spotlight this silent menace.
In that sense, ‘Kaam Chalu Hai’ is a commendable effort that raises awareness about the great Indian civic apathy that claims several lives on the road.
However, the Rajpal Yadav-starrer, even at one-and-a-half hours, feels stretched with its naive storyline and unsophisticated execution.
A good 30 minutes is spent on establishing the ‘happy family’ where Yadav and his wife (Giaa Manek) dote on their only daughter.
An overdose of saccharine sequences tells us that the girl is the apple of everyone’s eye and a budding cricket talent too. The father’s dream is to see her in the Indian jersey.
Then surfaces the villain in the plot — a pothole that changes their life forever.
Rajpal Yadav delivers a heartfelt performance as a middle-class man tirelessly seeking justice from an unyielding system.
As months turn into years, he takes it upon himself to fix the roads, if not the system.
‘Kaam Chalu Hai’, inspired by true events, offers some food for thought. But it’s bland.
Published 20 April 2024, 00:50 IST