Sunday

Director: Rohit Shetty
Producer: Kumar Mangat, Sunil Lulla
Starring: Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi, Ayesha Takia, Irfan Khan
Music: Sandeep Chowta, Suroor (Pakistani Band), Daler Mehndi, Shibani Kashyap, Raghav Sachar, Amar Mohile
Lyrics: Farhad, Sajid, Kamran Bari, Daler Mehndi, Virag Mishra

There's this somewhat curious thing with Ajay Devgan's releases this year- the promotional campaigns and posters seem to suggest that the movie you are going to see is going to be an Ajay Devgan vehicle, but that turns out to be far from true. After paling in comparison to the mighty Pankaj Kapur in Halla Bol earlier this month, Devgan is- for better or worse- again sidelined in 'Sunday' as rarely seen Ayesha Takia takes center-stage.

Ayesha is probably one of Bollywood's biggest wonders- this is one actress who is least of all ambitious- evident from her alarmingly carefree career choices as opposed to the likes of Priyanka Chopra who have carefully planned and smartly strategize their moves in filmdom.

The fact that she seems far from bothered about toning her far from perfect figure hardly seems to affect her popularity- and the reason for that is evident. She has a quality that is increasingly difficult to find among today's nip-tucked mannequins- genuine talent.

Ayesha's refreshing persona and confident screen presence contribute immensely in making 'Sunday' a fairly enjoyable watch. She is the film's central character and more than makes up for the lack of real bulk in her role, playing it with the right mix of tender vulnerability and bubbly charm.

When a movie begins with an acknowledgement that reads as 'thanx to my friends'- you get the er, message that you are watching a frivolous piece of work and are required- to use a terrible cliché- to leave you brains at home.

Considering I can't help but carry mine wherever I go, I watched the first scenes unfold with much trepidation as the film started with a murder. Whoops- Comedy + Whodunit reads as Bollywood Recipe for Disaster no.420. (For further information, watch Abbas Mustan's 36 China Town.)

Thankfully, things do not turn out as bad as expected and it gladdens me to say that it hasn't been such a bad day at the movies, after all. Far fetched as it may be, 'Sunday' by God's grace at least happens to have a plot, which is more than one can say for many films these days.

And while it doesn't work spectacularly in either the comic or thriller department, it is still engaging and mostly easy on the senses, save for some drably composed and awfully placed songs

'Sunday' revolves around the bizarre events that surround a day in animation dubbing artist Sehar Thapar's (Takia) life, a day that is completely erased from her already weak memory. As the story moves on, we find out the mystery behind the day's events and meet the usual sidekick characters on the way.

It helps that 'Sunday' has some dependable actors playing these usually insufferable parts, and Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi and Irrfan Khan do pretty well with their goofball parts. Khan, as usual is particularly effective with his deadpan style, and his take off on Himesh Reshammiya is especially funny.

Also interesting (though common these days) are the in-jokes- a loony doctor is called Robin Bhatt (credited with the screenplay among others), Irrfan's wannabe actor is named Kumar Mangat (who produces the film) and a stuttering gangster is called Aseem Bajaj (the cinematographer, who also shot Rohit Shetty's earlier effort 'Golmaal').

Speaking of Bajaj, he sure does a neat job capturing Delhi, which is refreshingly woven into the script and innovatively featured in the film by director Rohit Shetty. It isn't often that one notices the location, setting or cinematography in a Bollywood comedy, and for that alone, Shetty and Bajaj deserve kudos.