Straight | Movie Review

Men and women have different sense of humor. I am not comparing the quality but yes they think differently and joke differently. My biggest fear when I went in to watch Straight was that the director, who is a woman, might not be able to do complete justice to the story which is about a man who gets confused about his sexuality. Thankfully, she did not goof up there but that doesn’t mean that the film succeeds in its endeavor. Straight is not that straight a film as it meanders along expected lines before finally bringing home the fact that our man in question – Pinu Patel is not actually gay.

Straight does have an interesting story line. An introvert man whose biggest problem is his virginity and being subjected to ridicule by people develops a bonding with his cook at his restaurant. The problems compound as he gets confused about his sexuality. He goes about proving to himself that he is not a gay afterall. At the end of the story he realizes that he is not gay and then everyone goes home feeling happy for Pinu Patel. So far so good but when it finally comes to execution, Straight does not live upto expectations.

Straight has casual humor and a few of the scenes do make you laugh but individual scenes cannot bind a film to make it entertaining. This is where the director has to take the blame. Parvati had a decent outing with Rules:Pyar Ka Superhit Formula 6 years back but this time around, she fails to create an impact. She has executed a few comic scenes quite splendidly and also extracted good work from the lead protagonists – Vinay Pathak, Gul Panag and Anuj Chaudhari but sadly, the film fails when you look at it as a complete package. There is a satire on arranged marriages but the impact goes missing as the director repeats the same stories that have been told a lot many times. Just like the humor, everything else about the film looked casual too. Some funny scenes kept me glued initially bu tthen my thoughts began to wander as the story progressed.

Vinay Pathak is a seasoned actor and he doesn’t fail you here too. I cannot imagine anyone else playing Pinu Patel with the conviction that he did. Having said that, I think Vinay Pathak is overexposing himself by playing similar characters. Bheja Fry, Dasvidaniya and Straight all have Vinay playing a guy who is made fun of. It is about time he gives such roles a break. I am sure he is capable enough of handling other complex roles with ease too (but the question is – Are they coming?). Gul Panag oozes confidence and is a brainy actress. I feel that she is highly underrated as an actress. She does justice to her role in the film. Anuj Chaudhari is a new face. He too plays his part quite convincingly. The support cast is okay. Since they don’t get much footage, you can’t hold that against them.

There are a couple of good rock numbers in the film. Sagar Desai might be a guy to watch out for. Not related to the story but these songs do bring some life into the jerky paced movie.

There is nothing much to talk about the film or maybe I forgot to notice much as I didn’t find the narrative smooth. I would suggest that if you have not watched Straight till now, give it a miss. Believe me you will definitely end up doing something better in the time you save. I tried to like it but couldn’t do so. Straight gets a thumbs down from my side.