Raja Natwarlal has all the ingredients for a perfect masala heist movie. Emraan Hashmi is the obligatory, anti hero. Humaima Malick plays the hot girlfriend who’s forced into dancing for strangers. There’s the ubiquitious rich villain and Paresh Rawal as a con-guru lured out of a reclusive retirement for tht big score.
The film tells the story of how small-time conman Raja (Emraan Hashmi) falls foul of a super villain (Kay Kay Menon). He enlists the help of a master swindler to help him get his revenge, in a caper that involves selling the cricket-mad Menon a fictional T20 cricket team.
The storyline is half-baked at best and the glaring inconsistencies defy even the usual Bollywood suspension of logic.
Raja Natwarlal has its moments but the plot is full of holes and fails to build any sort of suspense. The various heists should set your heart racing but sadly this never happens. Moreover, the story flits between Mumbai and Cape Town at random with seemingly no attempt at continuity.
The climax is fairly clever but is let down by the plodding pace. The songs are visually appealing and Humaima looks amazing
However, inspite of the buzz Raja Natwarlal does not seem to have quite what it takes.
With a run time of less than two hours and half hours, Raja Natwarlal is directed by Kunal Deshmuk
Starring Emraan Hashmi, Humaima Malik, Paresh Rawal and Kay Kay Menon.
