…actually it is. It attempts to be a comedy but succeeds at not making you laugh even once. It is a same-same romantic story but is different because it doesn’t make you go “aaaaawww” once.

It is also different from other Nagesh Kukunoor products. While Hyderabad Blues was just about average and Iqbal was a regular story presented well. Teen Deewarein and Dor(though copies) were certainly worth writing home about. Bombay to Bangkok however is one of those you feel ashamed about…let alone because you made it, you wouldn’t want people to know you have watched it.

How amateurish is it to have a 25-30 year old song play every time a certain character comes on screen!? So not funny, and such a sad way to romanticize anything. To add to the mayhem, voiceovers are used to avoid actual narration and shabby dream sequences appear to annoy.

Making a brainless flick is an art. An art that is not easy to master. Even if you accept sexual references, toilet jokes, stereotyping, etc. as indispensable part of slapstick, you need something extra to keep them together. The movie has to have a driving force. Watching Bombay to Bangkok made me feel as if everyone is just going through the motions, no one is *really* interested.

The cameraman just seemed to pick a few angles and the director played “eeny-meeny-miney-moe” to decide on the final shot. The editor seems to have been chopping stuff in his sleep. Only that can explain why some shots never seem to end and others are way too abrupt. The background music is pretty random too. Waltz replaced by some jingle-like tune for no rhyme or reason.

Like everything else the script too is not completely thought out either. After an east meets far-east basic concept, the rest seems to be just written sporadically - while thinking of a thousand other things. The screenplay like its character is just running from one situation to another without any connection in between. An aimless, listless approach.

Having said that, the cast does all it can to rise above all the flaws and does whatever best it can, given the constraints of a mediocre team.

What bothers me most is that Nagesh Kukunoor, arguably one of the better film-makers in the industry, has shown such a thoughtless attitude to film-making. It is truly disheartening to see him struggle and fail miserably in trying to fit into the mainstream.