Coolie No. 1 Review: Varun Dhawan impresses in this out-and-out masala entertainer!

Cast: Varun Dhawan, Sara Ali Khan, Paresh Rawal, Javed Jaffery, Rajpal Yadav

Director: David Dhawan

Rating: ***

Platform: Amazon Prime Video

David Dhawan is a veteran director who is known for offering masala films in the Hindi film industry. The director, 25 years ago, entertained the Indian audience with Coolie No. 1 that had the iconic pair of Govinda and Karisma Kapoor. The film engaged us deep in the plot with its humour, dialogues, performances and what not! Now, after years, David Dhawan casts his son Varun Dhawan in the modern version of Coolie No. 1 with the expectation of a mindblowing response that the original one got. Amazon Prime Video's Coolie No. 1 was recently released and stars Sara Ali Khan opposite Varun Dhawan.

Coolie No. 1 is a story of a porter/Raju Coolie (Varun Dhawan) who falls in love with Sarah (Sara Ali Khan), the beautiful daughter of a rich and arrogant man Jeffery Rozario (Paresh Rawal). Rozario, is keen to find a richie rich guy for Sarah and tries to impress the audience with his rhyming that starts with 'Heaven on the docks'. One who watched the film knows how cringy and intolerable it becomes to watch him uttering those words. In the desperation of finding a millionaire for Sarah, Rozario even insults match maker Jai Kishen (Javed Jaffery) when he brings a middle-class marriage proposal for Sarah. Jai Kishen is unable to handle this insult and then what follows is the crux of every typical Bollywood masala story.

An enraged Kishen who considers his self-respect to be his pride decides to teach him a lesson and finds a perfect opportunity when he comes across a railway porter, Raju Coolie (Varun Dhawan). Meanwhile, Raju is already in love with Sarah after having a glance at her photograph. Raju becomes the suitor Kunwar Raj Pratap Singh and somehow manages to convince Rozario and Sarah that he's the son of a filthy rich businessman. The greedy Rozaria falls prey to Jai Kishen-Raju Coolie's conspiracy and ends up getting his daughter married to Raju. Then the writers add another layer to the story when Raju (Varun) has to play a double role in the film to save his relationship with Sarah.

David Dhawan tried his best to offer the newest version of 1995 Coolie No. 1 but the way he delivers the version is a bit confusing. However, initially, the story goes smoothly but feels like hotch-potch in the second half. The pace of the film fluctuates as the first half is pretty fast while the second one has been dragged. One thing which needs to be criticised is the sloggy writing that pulls back the story from being an awesome one. Though nothing has changed in terms of the script yet David managed to beautifully paint the original story with a lavish touch.

Coming to the performances, Varun Dhawan is the blood of the film who is funny in his attempts of playing Raju. Being a remake of the hit film, criticisms were there from the beginning but Varun showed his own humorous self in the film. Varun grabs all the eyeballs when he mimics many Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Nana Patekar and even Dilip Kumar since that's something which he is good at!

Sara Ali Khan as Sarah is gorgeous and looks absolutely charming with Varun Dhawan. Varun and Sara's chemistry is a delight to watch however the actress fails to acquire much of the screen presence. One has to mention Sara's accent in the film that seems not her but a made-up one trying to pose as a rich and glamorous girl. Paresh Rawal as Jaffery Rozario tries his best to add some humour in the film.

Actors like Javed Jaffery, Rajpal Yadav, and Johnny Lever are popular for their comic timings but do they entertain in this film? Well, they try. Shikha Talsania who was so much fun to watch in Veere Di Wedding barely gets any scope to perform as Sarah's sister Anju. Sahil Vaid as Deepak performs quite well as Raju's best friend. How can we not talk about the music of the film as that's one of the best things in Coolie No.1. The original background music impresses quite well with the same old songs that evoke some nostalgia and one can't complain.

Summing up the whole analysis, Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan starrer Coolie No.1 is a new take on Govinda and Karisma's 1995 film that is purely a masala entertainer. If you're a Govinda fan, you might be disappointed but if you're a true Bollywood lover and looking for a light-hearted comedy then Coolie No. 1 can be your choice. Give it a watch this weekend!