Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota review – Mr S’s take
Vasan Bala celebrates and in a way, mocks Bollywood in this movie. The movie is an ensemble of all the 1980s movies he adores. Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota review, brought to you by AboutFlick’s Mr S.
Director: Vasan Bala
Review: Ever wondered how great would it be to pay for one movie and watch several at the same time? Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota simply does that. Most of the 2-hour 15-minute movie is dedicated to other retro hits Vasan Bala grew up watching.
Vasan Bala celebrates and in a way, mocks Bollywood in this movie. The movie is an ensemble of all the 1980s movies he adores. Not only does the protagonist watch martial arts flicks like Secret Rivals (1976), Game of Death (1978), Gymkata (1985)), but also 80s Bollywood commercials like (Geraftaar (1985), Aaj Ka Goonda Raj (1992)). Other than that, a Vinod Rathod song in the background, old iconic dialogues (“Paap ko jala ke raakh kar doonga”), and clips from vintage films – is surely going to make you nostalgic.
The male protagonist of the movie, Surya, (played by Abhimanyu Dassani who seemed way more comfortable than a debutant) is a 21-year-old with “congenital insensitivity to pain”. By this time I think you guys have seen the trailer and I don’t need to get into the details of this medical condition. Though Surya struggles to be a fighter inspired by his Grandfather (a delightful Mahesh Manjrekar), he regrets not being able to save his mother.
Gulshan Devaiah excels both as Jimmy and Mani. While Jimmy is the psychotic villain who doesn’t miss on opportunities to mock his twin brother, Mani is the older brother filled with remorse for betraying his younger brother. Radhika Madan as Supri, Surya’s childhood sweetheart, is a character with very unrealistic dreams of getting married, going abroad and financial stability.
The action scenes are well choreographed with a flair of comic book style, but the storyline screams ’80s throughout. From twin brothers to childhood crush to losing a mother in an accident, everything of Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota is entertaining to the bones. Except for a few meaningless subplots which make you laugh, the movie is kept quite well focused.
There are times when the movie indulges itself with some sub-plots, like Surya’s water bag, which keeps him from dehydration, and Mani ignoring all of Jimmy’s faults just because he got more attention from their father in the childhood. These things distract from the comic-book silliness of the narrative. But the direction, editing and performances outshine its weaknesses.
Rating: My rating for Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota is 4/5.
Who should watch this: If you have seen Bala’s previous movie Peddlers(2012) then you should definitely go for Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota. You can also check out Kick-Ass(2010), Kick-Ass 2(2013),
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) and Tumbbad (2018).