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Santa Banta Pvt Ltd backdrop
22 April 2016Hindi112 min

Santa Banta Pvt Ltd

3.112 reviews
CriticsUnfavorable

Bayesian avg · 12 critic reviews

7.5+ Exceptional · 6.5 Recommended · 5.0 Mixed

1.01 ratings
Users

User Score · avg of 1 ratings

8.0+ Exceptional · 7.0 Recommended · 5.5 Mixed

Santa Banta Pvt. Ltd. is a film directed by Akashdeep Sabir and produced by Viacom 18 and will be distributed by Viacom 18 and Cinetek Telefilms.

Critic Consensus

Critical consensus on Santa Banta Pvt Ltd is overwhelmingly negative, with reviewers strongly advising audiences to avoid the film entirely. The most consistent criticism is that the film is severely unfunny, with jokes described as stale, situations as humourless, and the overall experience as painful and tedious. One reviewer noted that the film occasionally demonstrates the writers' potential for silly comedy, but these moments are too infrequent to salvage the experience. Several critics also pointed out the wasted opportunity of adapting the well-known Santa-Banta joke tradition into such a lackluster and banal screenplay.

12 reviews · 9 negative

Praised: occasional glimpses of comic potentialCriticised: completely unfunny jokes and script

AI-generated summary of 12 critic reviews · may contain errors

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Critic Reviews (12)

Subhash K Jha· SKJBollywoodNews
3.0
"The comic world of Santa Banta Pvt Ltd is suffused in an exasperating chaos. You want to be amused. You wait for punchlines. There is not one gag here that would evoke even a mild laughter in the audience. But if you appreciate some very accomplished comic actors trying to make sense of a plot that couldn't have made sense even to those who wrote it, this is your film."
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Bryan Durham· DNA India
2.0
"There's a reason this review is this short. This is strictly avoidable fare!"
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Mohar Basu· Times Of India
2.0
"Statutory warning : If you watch this film, the joke is on you."
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Rohit Vats· Hindustan Times
2.0
"To call it slapstick would be an insult to the audience's sensibilities because the jokes are stale and the situations humourless. The real outrage here is how can someone make a story with Santa-Banta, the epitome of two-liners, such a lacklustre affair?"
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2.0
"Santa Banta is a complete waste of time. Unless you want to go to a theater and fall asleep, avoid this one!"
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Kunal Guha· Mumbai Mirror
2.0
"Capitalising on the iconic Sikh characters that caustic columnist and writer Khushwant Singh celebrated in his joke books, this is a cinematic blot that debunks that famous detergent slogan 'daag ache hain'."
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2.0
"For what is touted as a comedy movie, this one is outrageously unfunny. In fact, I don't remember a single second when I even as much as half smiled through this painful ordeal."
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Suhani Singh· India Today
1.0
"Recovering from the mind-numbing assault of Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 and Mastizaade was hard enough, now audiences have to deal with yet another deadly blow in Santa Banta."
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"This is a film that has no saving graces at all: not worth wasting time or money on, even if you happen to be a diehard Boman Irani fan."
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Anna MM Vetticad· Firstpost
"It's the sort of light-hearted nonsense that should have filled the film. There's simply not enough of it. Every 20 minutes or so, there is one really good, enjoyably silly joke (which proves the writers' potential for this genre) and then – yawn, yawn, yawn – it is back to the dull grind. Considering that the film runs for about 113 minutes, that adds up to a total of approximately six jokes. Why?"
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Rachit Gupta· Filmfare
"Even if you have nothing else to do this weekend, do yourself a favour and avoid Santa Banta Pvt Ltd. Go fall off a cliff or cross the highway blind folded for thrills. Even those experiences will be a lot less painful than watching two sardars look for their underwear sash and argue over the value of an old metal pot. This movie is an exercise in banality. If you're smart, you'd keep a safe distance."
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Nandini Ramnath· Scroll.in
"Threatened by protests and petitions by the Sikh community, Santa Banta Pvt Ltd comes with a huge disclaimer that its turbaned characters are fictitious and bear no resemblance to anyone real. That seems entirely superflous. It's hard to imagine anybody in real life as dim-witted as Santa (Boman Irani) and Banta (Vir Das)."
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Cast & Crew

Details

Release Date
22 April 2016
Runtime
112 min
Language
Hindi
Genres
Drama, Comedy

User Ratings & Reviews

Users1.01 rating

1 rating from the community

TMDB

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