Ugly Aur Pagli

Ugly Aur Pagli

So what do you say when you watch a film that's actually not so bad but is a copy of a South Korean film called My Sassy Girl?

What's more, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is releasing on DVD the film's remake in English on August 26, 2008. So if one has to congratulate the makers of Ugly Aur Pagli, it will probably have to be for winning the race… by 26 days!

Having said all of that, Ugly Aur Pagli has some fantastic performances and it is merely for this that the two-odd-hour long movie deserves applause.

Return of the Doordarshan ladies

For those who have watched a serial called Wagle Ki Duniya in the pre-Liberalisation days, will tell you of Radhika, the hassled housewife. Played by Bharti Achrekar, Radhika had become an integral part of the Indian psyche. In this film, Bharti plays Ranvir Shorey's mother. And in her two and a half scenes, she shines thoroughly.

But there's another actress who has left us totally floored. Sushmita Mukherjee who played Kitty in another Doordarshan serial, Karamachand plays Mallika Sherawat's mom in this film. Like Bharti, she too has a two-bit role but manages to leave the audience in splits. Sushmita's spirited performance shows just how one can make a character memorable in a screen time not extending three to four minutes.

Mallika's good when she's bad

Okay, forgive the pun but Mallika Sherawat plays the eccentric girl quite well. But give her a scene where she has to cry or portray a sensitive emotion and you can see her falter. Thankfully there aren't too many scenes that require her to do the latter. So she portrays her character quite well. [FREE LOGIN: Get into Mallika's pants]

Another interesting part about Mallika's character is that you don't know her name till almost half way into the film. Of course this bit has been clearly taken from My Sassy Girl where the female protagonist has no name at all.