‘Wild Wild Punjab’ Netflix Movie Review - An Unfunny Mixture of Male Hormones and Male Fantasies

The title of Simarpreet Singh's new Netflix film, Wild Wild Punjab, reminded me of Udta Punjab. What do you know, there is a scene in this film where a character slaps a drug dealer and scolds him for spoiling the image of Punjab! I also thought about the Fukrey franchise as soon as I saw Manjot Singh and Varun Sharma. Well, there comes a moment in Wild Wild Punjab where Sharma's character, Rajesh Khanna, pees on a tollbooth and sets it on fire. This "power of the pee" thing is also present in Fukrey 3. Sharma, in the Fukrey franchise, tickles your funny bone by stepping into the shoes of an idiot savant. The actor plays the role of an idiot in Wild Wild Punjab, and he is far from hilarious. His attempts at humor are filled with, um, wild exaggerations - of actions as well as expressions. Sure, comedies like these are filled with exaggerations, but when the result is a misfire, the audience becomes more annoyed and less charmed.

All the actors, be it Sunny Singh, Rajesh Sharma, or Patralekha, give a bland performance. They exist in an "auto-drive" mode. They take the words from the script and regurgitate them loudly without adding any layer of amusement to them. Jassie Gill, however, has to be the king of dull performance. The background score is noisy in a self-congratulatory way - it almost resembles a laugh track that continuously tells us, "Laugh, people laugh!" The shoddy filmmaking thinks that by putting its feet on the accelerator, by swiftly moving from one image to another, it will be able to hide its clumsiness (this speed leaves behind a voiceover and a daddy problem). Wild Wild Punjab, due to this editing trick, looks busy, though you don't take much time to realize that the whole production is infected with stupidity and running on a lame plot.

Here goes: Rajesh's girlfriend, Vaishali (Aasheema Vardaan), cheats on him with their boss. A heartbroken Rajesh attempts to commit suicide, but his friends interfere, and together, they come up with a plan - Travel to Pathankot from Patiala to gatecrash Vaishali's wedding so that Rajesh can tell her that he has moved on. Wild Wild Punjab, in other words, is a road movie. This means that the friends encounter different characters on their journey, and the whole ride turns out to be some kind of adventure, leading to an epiphany for the male friends. Their relationship changes in the end. If only this "epiphany," this "adventure" had been coated with excitement or emotions.

Wild Wild Punjab is riddled with (unfunny) male fantasies: Boys fight on the road, have sex inside a car, impress a bride on her wedding day, and humiliate a woman. When Maan Arora (Sunny Singh) makes out with multiple women (he says he loves them and is committed only to them), he is seen as a stud. When Vaishali gives a blowjob to her boss, she is instantly seen as a slut. While watching Wild Wild Punjab, one feels as if the screen has been sprayed with male hormones. I got the impression that I was placed inside the mind of a self-proclaimed hunk. And what about that speech - that "poetry" - during the climax? It's nothing but your typical Luv Ranjan bullshit (he has written the story and is one of the producers) that screams, "Bros Before Hoes," "Boys will be boys," and "Men are a better species - more friendly, more caring, more supportive, more loyal."

Gaurav "saves" Radha (Patralekha) by marrying her, but Wild Wild Punjab never allows her a moment to ask questions like, "Do I really want to marry this guy?" "Shouldn't I wait for someone better?" "Is marriage my sole option?" The misogynistic world of Wild Wild Punjab rigs the game against her. The writers, Sandeep Jain and Harman Wadala make Radha a pretty, mute observer who happily accepts her fate without raising any objection. This shallow understanding and creation of female characters is also visible in the conception of Meera (Ishita Raj). She smokes and wears shorts, which means she is a "cool, badass girl." The failures on the writing level can also be found in that scene where everybody is thrown inside a cell, and the friends argue briefly before embracing and making sacrifices for each other (it's one of the most jarring moments). At one point in Wild Wild Punjab, the characters look confused after waking up in the morning and compare their situation to The Hangover. That 2009 comedy film reveals its secrets towards the end.

Wild Wild Punjab should have also allowed us to scratch our heads for a while, if not until the climax. However, it almost immediately informs us of everything through a flashback. During another scene, someone steals Honey Singh's (Manjot Singh) car, but again, this problem is instantly solved. The filmmakers display zero talent. They merely try to connect with men who have regressive thoughts regarding women. Wild Wild Punjab has three or four good jokes that made me laugh, though they don't in any way leave a positive impact overall. From the opening scenes itself, the film summons a dreadful tone and keeps it till the very end. This comedy is neither funny nor goofy; it's wildly unpleasant.

Final Score- [2/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times