Phas Gaye Re Obama Movie Reviews

Terrific performances, ticklish humour and a trick-and-treat plot line: Phas Gaye Re Obama is a delightful end-of-the-year surprise package. After gargantuan disasters like Chandni Chowk to China, Warner Inc seems to have realised that small -- yet smart -- is truly beautiful. Remember Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?

Phas Gaye Re Obama is perhaps the most intelligent comedy in this year of mindless comedies that made you tear the screen. A comical satire on recession, Phas Gaye Re Obama is special because of its wonderful script that makes you glee with awe and at the same time think. The characters have been woven intelligently, with each gang representing a class in the social hierarchy. Their situations portray how they are hit by the recession. Bhaishahab (Sanjai Mishra) and his gang represent the bottom of the hierarchy with no bullets in their guns and people refuse to pay ransom. Being at the bottom of the pyramid, they are the ones who had to suffer the most due to this financial mandee.

Phas Gaye Re Obama' is unpredictable and surprisingly relevant, even if the film’s title (which seems to squarely blame the US President for the recent global recession) is a bit of a stretch. Cleverly written and sharply cast, it’s a film that delivers hearty laughs. I’m going with three-and-a-half out of five for writer-director Subhash Kapoor’s 'Phas Gaye Re Obama'. Don’t miss it. It’s one of those rare Hindi films that’s funny and smart at the same time!

On the whole, PHAS GAYE RE OBAMA banks on an interesting premise rather than a galaxy of stars to deliver what it promises. Few film-makers stick their necks out to tell tricky and complex stories in these days of mindless entertainers making loads of money at the ticket window. For their intentions alone, the makers of PHAS GAYE RE OBAMA merit that support. Here's a request to all cine lovers and also multiplexes, from this writer. Give this one a chance. Let's nurture and support it well, so that genuine and honest efforts like PHAS GAYE RE OBAMA don't go unnoticed.

Comedy, black, white or blue, is its effective best when spontaneous and born out of erratic, whimsical reactions against a perfectly genuine backdrop. Precisely why Phas Gaye Re Obama scores. It takes a real-life upheaval and mixes it up with the metaphor of survival is every man's need, morality no bar, to concoct a sharply-penned, rib-tickling adventure. It's insane. And it's awesome.

Starting from the fully incongruous title, Phas Gaye Re Obama is an absolutely insane film. It’s got an original, relevant premise, it’s brilliantly written in colloquial rustic dialogue, it’s cheaply but smartly directed, the humour is corny and side splitting and it’s got a top-notch ensemble cast. At its heart Phas Gaye Re Obama deals with a real, contemporary premise, the worldwide recession, which the film then proceeds to deflate in delightful ways.

Director Subhash Kapoor, who has also written the film, proves that when you have a good script everything else falls in place. PHAS GAYE RE OBAMA is a very smartly written film which is executed with precision. It's not an out-n-out comedy, but is laden with many uproarious moments, making sure you are entertained throughout. It's basically situational comedy, which is very refreshing to see. The other thing that works majorly for the film is the characters. Even though Om's passing continues from one gang to the other, the narrative is alive due to the superb characteriaztion. Even the zany dialogues are finely written.

When a film begins with shots of a man with a gun urinating on a hillside even as monkeys nonchalantly take in the scene, you know you’re in for an unusual ride. Phas Gaye Re Obama is one of those small films that have zero face value but provide crackling entertainment if you’re brave enough to venture in.

Yet, these transactions of the K&R industry subliminally work the same way home loan foreclosures that caused the American recession did. The parallel is supremely placed, the black comedy, superbly written (Subhash Kapoor). Better budgets could've allowed for more filmic width. But then, you could blame that on recession too, right? This one seems well worth your money though.

It has been a year of small budget films with the audience lauding efforts like Peepli Live, Udaan and Tere Bin Laden. And Phas Gaye Re Obama would be looking to make a similar impact. And it has everything that a film needs to do so. Director Subhash Kapoor, who had gone unlucky with his first film Say Salaam India, shows again that he has it in him to deliver smart and yet entertaining films. Watch the film to know for yourself!

An intricate plot infused with sparks of humour highlighting the problems of a recession-hit abduction industry, Phas Gaye Re Obama is a refreshing take on the otherwise anxiety-inducing global slowdown. Made on a humble budget of Rs3 crore, Phas Gaye Re Obama offers the much-needed comic relief with well-sketched out (and many) characters like a wannabe NRI and a broke one mouthing amusing lines slyly commenting on the Indian obsession with the American dollar.

Kapoor takes time to get a grip on the story. The start is lethargic but once the ball gets rolling it doesn't stop till the very end. Amole Gupte's mantri act could have had more shades than him just having to chant some mantras to cure his bowel issues. The climax is whacky, but is somewhat rushed and comes out of nowhere. We get the Obama vibe but sometimes it feels too forced to have any impact. What to do: An ensemble of gifted actors bring out the best in them to deliver a genuinely funny film. Go watch it.

Phas Gaye Re Obama' may not boast of stars to entice the viewers in hordes. It may not have a colossal canvas [on the contrary, the making is very basic]. It may not have a wonderful musical score to act as a hook [there are hardly any songs here]. But 'Phas Gaye Re Obama' succeeds, and succeeds largely, in its endeavour: Make the viewer laugh at the right places. A small little gem that deserves a watch.

Phas Gaye Re Obama proves some very old perceptions wrong. Firstly, that star power is imperative to keep a movie going and secondly, that gags have to be hard hitting to make us laugh. Phas Gaye Re Obama has some lesser known and seen faces that shoulder this satirical comedy so seamlessly that the absence of a big star is the last thing on our minds. The movie has its share of curse words and sexual innuendoes that sometimes appear tad bit crass. It is heartening to see how Indian audiences have evolved in the recent past that films like Tere Bin Laden, Khosla Ka Ghosla and LSD have found so many takers.

Low-budgeted Phas Gaye Re Obama is entertaining fare for its target audience – those who frequent the multiplexe...