This may be a new film, but it is certainly not madly novel. Delhi Belly had the same idea with the addition of some excrement and expletives, minus one fukra.

Formulas in Hindi films, no matter how popular or timeless, have been known to run their course in due time. So it comes as a mild disappointment when a film co-produced by Akhtar, a film that looked so promising on paper, fails to deliver.

Fukrey works in parts and some of them are really funny, but overall it feels like an exercise in wanting to be a little bit of everything. It sounds like Delhi Belly, looks like Oye Lucky Lucky Oye and somewhere in between struggles to make its own identity.

Fukrey caters the standard package of bromance that has been hot among Bolly buffs. It looked wild in the promos. Not the same can be said of the film itself. Fukrey would have worked better if the screenplay revealed more imagination.

‘Fukrey’ creates memorable characters and some sadi dilli nostalgia but the film never really becomes more than the sum of its parts. The linear narrative is peppered with genuine humour but the pace is slow and the events predictable.

Let’s first get the picture right. Contrary to what the trailers and promotional images tell is Fugly is not a Fukrey-friendly flick about four friends having a ball in life. This film means business. Light on top and substantial underneath, this is the Rang De Basanti of the post-Modi era. Thoughtful and at times brilliant, it tells us a great deal about the state of a culture and people searching for reasons to keep the spirit of nationalism alive as self-serving corruption grown all around us.

The writing often jumps time, leaving the audience lagging and playing catch-up. This isn't always a bad thing in times of spoon-feeding viewers. Some of the film's transitions are outstanding, the mark of a good director.