Akshay Kumar gets up, close and personal with his superstardom
Not very long ago, we saw Ayushmann Khurrana play a superstar in An Action Hero, where a youth icon wanting to take a selfie with the actor ends up dead, and his brother lectures the superstar that his stature is all thanks to public, so if they want a selfie, actors need to oblige. Cut to actor Akshay Kumar’s latest theatrical release Selfiee, where the actor plays a superstar and ends up in a murky mess with his biggest fan.
An official remake of the Malayalam film Driving Licence (2019), this comedy drama has a lot more lighter moments. Save for the plot, Selfiee has ditched the serious undertones of the original and laced the writing with humour and emotion.
As we saw in the trailer, the story follows superstar Vijay Kumar (Kumar) who wants a driving licence urgently to be able to finish the climax of his film and save the producer from incurring losses. His diehard fan, RTO officer Om Prakash Aggarwal (Emraan Hashmi) is given the task to help the actor, and he agrees to fulfil it without following the usual tedious process and asks for a selfie as a gesture in return. Things don’t go as planned and a misunderstanding leads to their feud becoming the Prime Time news for the media.
Actors playing superstars onscreen has been a tried and tested formula for filmmakers, be it films such as Om Shanti Om (2007) or biopics of Silk Smitha and J Jayalalithaa, portrayed by Vidya Balan and Kangana Ranaut, respectively.
With Selfiee, things look more real and relatable because of the story and narrative that are pretty convincing. It doesn’t end at being a feud between a star and an RTO officer, but also follows their emotional sides. The screenplay is engaging, without too many dull moments. The original story by Sachy has been written for the Hindi version by Rishabh Sharma, who sprinkles elements in tune with the pulse of the Bollywood-obsessed audiences.
Kumar as Vijay gets very close to his superstardom he enjoys in real life. Along with a charming persona and swag, he shows signs of gratitude for fans despite being a self-made star. What I totally loved about Selfiee is the actor’s ability to be able to take a joke on himself and laugh at it, too. Be it taking a dig at the constant scrutiny on the number of films he does in a year, Hindi films not working at the box office or a doctor telling him that he needs to do some ‘classy films over massy cinema’ — he delivers with ease. Emraan Hashmi, back on the big screen after over a year, has a pleasant screen presence though at places, he seems a bit over-the-top. But, maybe that’s how some diehard fans are.
Among the supporting cast, Mahesh Thakur as Vijay’s manager delivers an earnest performance. Meghna Malik as politico Vimla Tiwari is on point with her comic timing and is given some funny lines. Completely wasted in the script is Abhimanyu Singh, playing Vijay’s contemporary, though he is hilarious.
I rather liked the song Kudiye Ni Teri Vibe where Kumar and Mrunal Thakur set the screen on fire. Even the remixed version of Main Khiladi Tu Anari that appears in the end credits is a sure-shot party number. In a nutshell, Selfiee ticks most of the boxes that Hindi film audiences look for. After all, isn’t this what everyone is craving for — mass entertainers that can bring audiences back into theatres!