Filling the very talented very handsome Malayalam star Prithviraj Sukumaran’s shoes is not easy. In theory, it is as impossible as Ram Charan filling Amitabh Bachchan’s shoes in the remake of Zanjeer. We all know how disastrous that proved to be.
But hang on! What’s this? Akshay Kumar seems to have done a fairly commendable job of it in Selfiee. Forget the weird spelling, this is a hugely enjoyable trailer. Hopefully, the film will match up. But the one thing we can say with certainty is that the Hindi remake of Lal Jr’s Driving Licence is not something to be looked down on.
For one, Akshay Kumar plays the vain superstar Vijay Kumar with a devil-may-care elan. He is seen giving out arrogant statements on his volume of projects (“I do four films a year, plus two OTT shows, several endorsements”), and when a fan Om Prakash Aggarwal (Emraan Hashmi) becomes too demanding Vijay Kumar slams him back. Hard.
It’s a pitched battle between a superstar and a diehard fan, bound to resonate with audiences. I especially liked the self-mocking bits in the trailer, like the poster in the background of a film titled Don’t Angry Me, a hark back to Akshay Kumar’s Rowdy Rathore and at the same time a swipe at the mediocrity and mindlessness of the typical masala product of the film industry.
The original had Prithviraj as the superstar and Suraj Venjarammoodu as the fan. They were both commanding in their combative positions. Akshay Kumar and Emraan Hashmi seem to play off well against one another in the remake.
But my favourite moment in the trailer features the powerhouse actress Meghna Malik who plays the superstar’s assistant. When superstar Akshay Kumar asks her to raise the television volume, she misunderstands and raises her own volume.
Selfiee is all about the pitfalls of taking oneself too seriously. The entertainment industry is notorious for that. To actually poke fun at Bollywood’s art of self-importance in a film starring a self-important star, is something I have to see.
Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based journalist. He has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out.
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