Cast: Abhay Deol (Lucky), Paresh Rawal (Lucky’s father/ Gogi Bhai/ Dr.Handa)

Directed by: Dibakar Banerjee

Release date: December 2008

A scene from an item song

Making people laugh is no joke. A comedy is probably the most difficult genre to tackle for any director. I am talking about the genuine, heartfelt stuff, where you laugh with the characters at the vagaries of life. Rather than at them. ‘Oye Lucky, Lucky oye’ has that fast-disappearing breed of humane humour in spades.

Dibakar Banerjee’s sophomore effort is a loud, rambunctious, earthy celebration of life in the by -lanes and high roads of Delhi. From the scenarios such as rowdy Jats jumping around at a wedding to the tunes of popular Bollywood numbers belted out by an out of tune singer dressed in a gaudy purple outfit…to the details of the Punjabi tinged accents and impeccable Dilliwala Hindi…it captures the living heart of Delhi. The city is as much a character as any of the actors in the movie.

The movie opens with Lucky as a teenager. He is an ambitious one. Unlike his friends, he’s not satisfied with ogling the pretty private school girls in their short skirts, hanging around with their boyfriends in the latest flashy cars. If he can’t get a car, he will get a bike. If he can’t get that too, he will steal it. And snare a girl from the local gift-shop to go with it. He doesn’t exactly understand what greeting cards are for. That doesn’t stop him from gifting one to his first love. That it turns out to be a ‘get well soon’ card is irrelevant.

Lucky’s father is always on his back. He’s tired of trying to beat some sense into his kid’s head. In fact, he’s justified in his frustration and rage at his son’s constant stream of unreasonable demands. But Lucky is not going to be content with the lower middle-class honest life of his father. And he is prepared to take on his father and the world.

Next when we meet Lucky as an adult, he’s beginning to find his place in the bigger scheme of things. Through his friend and future sidekick Bangali he meets Gogi Bhai, who organizes singing-dancing shows at marriages and runs a small ‘import-export’ business on the side. Lucky starts off by stealing a Mercedes for him. Preternaturally confident, he is a born thief. His stratagems are elegant in their simplicity. He could practically walk into a house, chat up the owner as if he was meeting an old friend and walk out with all the furnishings with the owner being none the cleverer about being robbed.Once he realizes he’s turning into a mere lackey of Gogi Bhai, he goes freelance. He’s set-up and caught by the cops. He again uses his ingenuity to escape and carry on with his career-building. It is now that his fame grows far and wide.

In the final segment, Lucky meets Dr. Handa on a flight. He is the kind of guy, who would describe himself as being first and foremost a respectable man. Steeped in middle-class self-righteousness, he is the probably the worst con of all.

Abhay Deol has been taking up some of the most interesting roles currently on offer in Hindi cinema. And he just keeps getting better with each movie. Here, he gives his best performance till date. I am not exactly sure why the director got Paresh Rawal to play three entirely unrelated roles. But it works out pretty well. Yet again he proves why he’s one of the finest and most under-utilized actors in Bollywood.

Like the best of comedies, beneath the crackling smart dialogues and the breezy proceedings, there is a hidden but unmistakable streak of melancholy. From the first reel to the last, Lucky doesn’t express any qualms or remorse about what his actions. He has never cared for anyone’s approval. But he is always searching for acceptance of some kind. From his parents, his friends, from society. Acceptance of him for what he is.

Nowadays, humour, this most essential of the arts has been systematically reduced to dim-witted trash that would be insulting to a five year old’s intelligence. That’s why it’s time to get up and applaud, when a small, unpretentious gem like this appears on the horizon.

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