Nanu Ki Jaanu movie review: Abhay Deol’s film is a bizarre ghost story

Nanu Ki Jaanu Movie Details:

Directed by: Faraz Haider

Produced by: PVR Pictures

Sajid Qureshi

Written by: Manu Rishi

Music by: Sajid–Wajid

Gunwant Sen

Sachin Gupta

Cinematography: S. R Sathish Kumar

Edited by: Manan Ajay Sagar

Production company: PVR Pictures

Inbox Pictures Pvt. Ltd.

Release date 20 April 2018

Country: India

Language: Hindi

Movie Rating:2.5/5

Nanu Ki Jaanu Story:

A brash land mafia agent in Delhi, Nanu (Abhay Deol) faces a crisis in both his personal and professional life as an unwanted entity occupies a new flat that he wants to usurp.

Nanu Ki Jaanu Review:

Nanu and his gang of goons run a lucrative operation in Delhi where they rent a home and end up usurping it, thanks to a fool proof modus operandi which requires them to be ruthless. One day, completely out of character, Nanu does a good deed by rushing an accident victim to a hospital. This Good Samaritan act of his somehow starts transforming him and he almost goes through an existential crisis. He can't focus on wine, women or his life of crime. His emotions run high and even his sidekicks cannot stop him from being a mushy wreck. If his emotional crisis was not enough, another one jumps out at him and this time it is a spiritual one. A ghost (Patralekha) has occupied the latest flat that Nanu plans to usurp and that ghost is apparently in love with the strapping young goon.

'Nanu Ki Jaanu' brings together Abhay Deol and Manu Rishi in a similar setting after 'Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!' where both play North Indian conmen. But this time, the sparks don’t fly like how they did the last time they teamed-up. While the story is unique and interesting, the execution is flawed, especially when it comes to the horror elements. The ghost here is not up to any really funny business which is off-putting considering it is a comedy. The only comic relief one gets here is in the form of performances and dialogues by Manu Rishi. The only reason that the movie is bearable in the first half is because it is a comedy. But when it turns into a whodunit in the second half and a new emotional angle is introduced, it falls completely flat. Neither the performances nor an ever changing storyline, where newer characters are introduced, help pick it up. An anticlimactic, emotional ending further seals the fate of this film.