Munna Michael has been repeatedly described and promoted as an ode to the pop icon Michael Jackson. Even the trailer made us believe so. With Tiger Shroff around, you expect that if nothing else, the dance will make any crap watchable if not delightful. Add to that one of the most brilliant actors we have today, Nawazzudin by his side. One would have to be downright nonchalant to make a mess out of this ensemble. Munna Michael proves just that.
The movie begins with a middle aged extra dancer (Ronit Roy) being thrown out of his job because he reached his ‘expiry’ date. This old guy on his way home picks up an abandoned crying baby from garbage. Yes, I felt like I was in the 80’s too, except that these days we tend to carry our brains to the theatre. Next, comes a song that takes us through the growing years of Munna (Tiger Shroff) from a baby to a well chiselled six pack. Munna can dance, Munna can show his bare chest, Munna can kick some ass and that is what he does all through this 3-hour drag. At some point in time, we are introduced to a businessman/’gunda’ from Delhi, Mahinder played by Nawazuddin. His introductory action scene is quite painful, as no amount of slo-mo’s, stylish angles and swanky background score helps establish his character as a cool gangster. Meanwhile, our female lead makes an entry through an item song with a really awkward choreography, which looks a rip off of ‘Lovely’ by Deepika Padukone. Her resemblance to Deepika in some parts and Kriti Sanon in others work against any of her acting attempts.
Whatever happens next is an attempt to join random dots amidst dance- action – dance sequences. The dialogues are so stale and cliched that you might as well watch all this on mute. But then since two of our lead actors manage to deliver every dialogue with the same expression, you’ve got to rely on their futile conversations. There is one scene in which Mahinder and Munna bleed their hands for a handshake to prove their brotherhood. While there are other bad scenes to compete with, this scene is cringe – worthy enough to win the worst scene of the year award. Everything from the script to the narration is so frivolous that you only keep feeling bad for the waste of good actors.
There is a lot of love and drama stuffed into what could have been a dance movie. We only see glimpses of some impeccable dancing and some moon walking through a flippant plot. Tiger Shroff even with his flying kicks, cartwheels and fluid dance moves cannot save this dead narrative. You will need to go back and watch the likes of Gangs of Wasseypur to reinstate your belief in good acting and good cinema.
