Siddhartha (Parambrato) rushes to Kolkata to join a garage as a mechanic. In the bus, he encounters Henna (Swastika Mukherjee) clad in a burkha and learns that she is running away from a forced-marriage to the younger brother of a leading don. The two land up in Papaji (Annu Kapoor)’s garage where Siddhartha has no choice but to present themselves as a married pair. To hide Henna’s Muslim identity, he introduces her as Roopa. Tony and Gaja, two mechanics, put them up in a room let out already by another mechanic, Shanti (Saswata Chatterjee) to an old couple (Paran Bandopadhyay and Tanima Sen). They dissuade the old couple with stories of all tenants landing up as corpses. The couple wanders around in the truck that carries their entire furniture and luggage. Shanti is furious when he discovers that his colleagues have pulled a fast one on him but later relents when Siddhartha and he turn ‘partners.’
Papaji finds that Subhash (Biplab) the owner of the garage who introduces himself as Aami Subhash Bolchhi is involved in pushing drugs, and arms. In one car delivery, Sid and Shanti are trapped as arms smugglers with the police hot on their chase. Meanwhile, Papaji disguises himself as a tantrik to persuade industrialist Nikhilesh (Shantu Mukherjee) that his daughter Koel, who died young is now reborn and is ready to return to her grieving parents. An uncomfortable and nervous Siddhartha is already in place as Nikhilesh’s manager. Henna enters as his daughter’s reincarnation but is promptly imprisoned like a princess waiting to be engaged to Nikhilesh’s friend Subhash’s son.
How the three car mechanics and Papaji manage to spoil Henna’s engagement? What happens when the real Koel’s grieving parents find out the truth? How Papaji strips himself of his tantrik’s disguise and how the two lovers are united in married bliss makes for a rip-roaring climax.
Technical Expertise
The music track and the brilliant lyrics by Neel and Kaushik are the most outstanding qualities of Brake Fail. When the mechanics are on the go, one hears the opening music of Rang De Basanti’s famous song. In one brief moment, when the persistently sozzled Shanti talks about getting married, we hear strains of the lead music of Ek ladki ko dekha toh aisa lagaa. The six song tracks flow through the film like a river. Three songs Jingha lala jhinga lala, followed by Jodi proshno koro and then Shorey shorey which is a Hindi-Bengali remix, deserve special mention.
The characterisations are detailed, blending smoothly into the story. Paran Bandopadhyay, Tanima Sen, Annu Kapoor and Saswata are mind-blowing. Swastika’s soft beauty adds to her portrayal and character while Parambrato gives of his best but is not confident in the song numbers.
The film slides rapidly down once Nikhilesh and his sad story is narrated. Papaji’s terrible cotton-candy wig and moustache is something a kindergarten child will see through. The reincarnation theory falls flat on its face. The mechanics’ uniform does not have a spot of grease on them. Their faces too, have no oil and grime. When the policemen rush into a jeep to chase Siddhartha and Shanti, one of them says, “This time, I will take the window seat,” and the audience breaks into side-splitting laughter.
Verdict
What could have been a flawless, wholesome comedy turns into a weak plot because Kaushik did not know when to apply the brakes to the needless melodrama. The film deserves three stars– one for the mind-blowing songs, one for the pithy and fun-filled dialogue and one for the wonderful acting.
