So this is the story of a 30 year old virgin who is apparently in this state since he is bald. Or so he wants to believe! Carrying this inferiority complex for last five-six years, Sunny Singh plays this Delhi based Hindi lecturer who gets ridiculed for his baldness at campus whenever he sets his foot there. Of course it’s all in the mind (and not as much about what’s over your head) as is conveyed towards the latter part of the film. Noble indeed, though now one wishes that the film was not as exaggerated and stretched as it turns out to be.
The film works whenever it takes the light hearted route. Yes, in fact it turns quite loud as well at number of junctures. However if you are used to watching those Delhi based films with Punjabis as the central characters, you must have been used to that template by now. With a mandatory background sound of ‘Punjabi’ at least once in the narrative and the ‘Jaat’ explosion that is bound to happen in one of the sequences, Ujda Chaman pretty much follows the template.
A good contribution for that comes from Sunny’s parents (Anuj Kumar, Grusha Kapoor) who are simply fantastic. They get the best scenes and the best dialogues, hence contributing massively to the film’s humour quotient. Good indeed as it is better than the smug expression that Sunny is required to carry practically right through the film. Agreed that he is shown to be facing this huge complex of being bald. However it is is difficult to believe that he is unhappy for most part of his life.
Nonetheless, there are happy moments too that happen around Sunny though you know that there would be something tricky around the corner that would deprive him of that. So right from enjoying crush from a girl 10 years his junior to going all wrong on Tinder to finding a perfect wife from workplace way too late in life, Sunny goes through quite some trials and tribulations.
All of that is fine as long as Abhishek Pathak keeps bringing in the smiles and laughs. However, as the film moves towards pre-climax and climax, you get a feeling that there isn’t really much out there to be told but the scenes are being put together since the story needs to culminate in a certain manner. Of course it is all routine and predictable and this is where one wonders whether something fresh and new would have made it all come across even better.
While Sunny and Maanvi are fine for their part and Atul and Grusha are hilarious, there is also an appearance from Sharib Hashmi who is seen sporadically in the film, though he conveys a nice message later on. Saurabh Shukla has just three scenes in the film and each one turns out to be better than the one before. Karishma Sharma is sparkling in her brief appearance and other supporting actors for the bill too.
Eventually, Ujda Chaman turns out to be a film which isn’t extraordinary or a must watch. However, as a decent entertainer with some nice and breezy moments peppered during the two hour narrative, it can be given a dekko.