Richie rich producer Vashu Bhagnani springs a surprise with his second attempt at turning son Jackky Bhagnani into a hero with debutant director and choreographer Remo D’Souza in the Bollywood movie F.A.L.T.U . It has been set in a college campus, casts young talents and comes up with a film that has loads of energy, plus a message before it concludes.
The first half of F.A.L.T.U is spent in foolish frolicking – Arshad Warsi playing a character named Google shows up and donates an unused building to the kids for their fake college.
In the second half, F.A.L.T.U becomes a paean to the importance of alternate education, not conforming to the prescribed path and following your heart.
Coming to the Bollywood story line it is set in Goa where Ritesh (Jackky) and two of his pals, Pooja and Nanji (Pooja Gupta, Angad Bedi) who score somewhere at the bottom of the class during there exams can’t get into any college.
On the other hand, there’s brainy Vishnu (Chandan Roy Sanyal) whose successful upper crust dad (Akbar Khan) is a strict disciplinarian and isn’t over the moon that he has fetched only 94%. Vishnu naturally gets into the best college in town while his three backbencher friends drive their well-meaning parents to tears.
That’s when a bright idea hits Ritesh. With the help of Googlebhai (Arshad Warsi) and Baajirao (Riteish Deshmukh), they create the Fakirchand and Lakirchand Trust University or F.A.L.T.U.
The fake college with a real-looking website which was begun as an eyewash to temporarily appease their parents, backfires on the group when real students who’ve been turned down elsewhere turn up, having enrolled online.
Ritesh undergoes a change of heart and decides that his ambitions of becoming the next Mukesh Ambani will begin right here on this campus with practical training in management.
Ritesh’s father (played with exemplary skill by Darshan Jariwala), a small-time businessman who picks up thrown-away rejects and restores them, gets it right when he discovers the truth about FALTU but backs his son for also picking up rejects and bringing out their true worth.
There is Mithun Chakraborty (Minister) who comes to know about the illegal FALTU.
Again, Accepted wasn’t an original piece of work. It borrowed from two films, Animal House and Camp Nowhere, with a bit of Van Wilder thrown in. Remo, on the other hand, may be inspired by Accepted [although the story is credited to Sachin Bajaj], but screenplay writers Mayur Puri and Tushar Hiranandani give it a desi feel to suit the Indian sensibilities.
Director Remo D’Souza’s fundas are clear: Let’s entertain! In fact, the film is targeted at the youth and it is this segment that will identify with it more than any age-group. One of the aces of the film is, without doubt, its musical score. Generally, a film-maker considers himself lucky if even one track hits the top charts, but in this case, not one or two, but four songs have become hugely popular with the youth. ‘Chaar Baj Gaye’ [the anthem of the youth], ‘Bhoot Aaya’, ‘Fully Faltu’ and ‘Le Ja Tu Mujhe’ only prove how skilled and proficient young music composers Sachin-Jigar are. This one’s a smash hit score. Besides, Remo’s topnotch choreography enhances the impact of the songs. Vijay Arora’s cinematography is up to the mark. I’d like to make a special note of the dialogue, which are very well worded at places.
On the whole, F.A.L.T.U. banks heavily on the formula that the youth loves. It’s funny, energetic and has a big ace in its smash hit musical score. I would go to the extent of saying that the movie works because it doesn’t pretend to be path-breaking. It offers what the audience desires: Entertainment!
