Selfiee Movie Review: Akshay Kumar-Emraan Hashmi’s Remake of Driving Licence Falls Short of Passing the Test With Flying Colours (LatestLY Exclusive)

Selfiee Movie Review: Good Newwz (pun intended) first, Selfiee is Akshay's most bearable film since, well, Good Newwz (unless you discount his very likeable cameo in An Action Hero). Both the films are directed by Raj Mehta, a filmmaker that Akshay should put on a retainer basis, someone who knows how to work the superstar more as a superstar than as a propagandist (even if Selfiee does has its share of media political plays and a Shri Ram reference). Now you would argue Selfiee is good because it is a remake of a well-received Malayalam film, 2019's Driving Licence, starring Prithviraj Sukumaran and Suraj Venjaramoodu in the lead. Selfiee Review: Akshay Kumar, Emraan Hashmi-Starrer, Remake of Malayalam Film Driving Licence, Opens to Mixed Response From Critics.

That would have been a valid point, for a replica of a good product might retain some of the goodness. But then I was also a big fan of the Tamil film Jigarthanda, and I have also seen how terrible its remake was in Bollywood last year - Bachchan Pandey, also starring Akshay Kumar. So yeah, good films can also lend itself to bad remakes, and to the credit of Selfiee (Bollywood's latest entry in the annoying club of misspelt English titles), it isn't god-awful.

Bad news is, Selfiee isn't that impressive either, nor does it do complete justice to the material it is remaking. If you haven't seen the Malayalam original, then the film is about an ego clash between a reigning superstar and his self-proclaimed big fan, which doesn't go the grim way as Shah Rukh Khan's FAN.

In Selfiee, Akshay Kumar plays a meta-replica of himself, a superstar called Vijay Kumar. He comes to Bhopal to shoot for a film, and in Bhopal stays a huge fan of his, Om Prakash Agarwal (Emraan Hashmi), an RTO officer, who even made his young son a fan of the superstar like him. However, his wife Minty (Nushrratt Bharuccha) isn't impressed by the antics of the men in her family, but it might have to do with the fact that she is more of a fan of Suraj Diwan (Abhimanyu Singh). Suraj is a fading star, who still considers himself Vijay's rival, but is reduced to doing B-grade films like 'Pitaji, I Love You' or stupid ads like the one where he breaks nuts with his ass! Naturally, he holds a bitter jealousy against Vijay and is looking for an opportunity to bring him down.

The opportunity arises when Vijay needs to get a new driving licence issued for his shoot, since his old one is lost and they can't find the records for a duplicate issuance. A jubilant Om Prakash finds out that he would be of service to Vijay, but he only has one request - that Vijay Kumar comes down to the RTO office and take a selfie with him and his son. Vijay obliges, but on the day of the visit, a huge misunderstanding happens and the superstar gives his fan a big dressing down in front of his son and colleagues. Ego hurt, the fan goes on a warpath against his idol resulting in a huge media circus and more ego clashes.

Watch the Trailer of Selfiee:

The Malayalam original, directed by Lal Jr, is a smart film that balances the satirical elements of the premise well with the socio-thriller aspect of the story. It may not be a completely balanced film when it comes to showing the clash between two decent men who got dirty in their ego clashes, but it still works fine while presenting an actor's vulnerable side when it comes to his media image.

Selfiee does try all that, and it allows Akshay to have fun with the role and go meta, be it the joke on his gummy smile or the fact that he is pushing multiple projects in a single year. But as the film progresses, the fun aspect about that meta-ness gets drastically reduced to an absolute nil, even when the opportunities to do so are ripe. Like for example, the frequent accusation on the real superstar about the reducing age of his female onscreen love interests isn't mentioned even when the movie begins itself with a song where he romances Mrunal Thakur, who is clearly way too younger. Even the actor's political inclinations aren't touched upon, but then I assume it is the makers and the actor's prerogative to decide what needs to be shown and what's not.

However, when the self-satirical nature of the film - easily its biggest asset - gets not fleshed out much, it instead turns way too farcical to feel amused about. The frequent roasting of news channels barely elicited any chuckles, 'cos reason one, it has been done to death onscreen in recent times, and reason two, the clips of the real-anchors the movie is spoofing get better laughs on social media even at the cost of increasing frustration. The Malayalam original also delved into media circus and their habit to exaggerate reports, but it doesn't delve into the kind of comedy circus that Selfiee devolves into. Akshay Kumar Plans to Renounce Canadian Passport, Selfiee Star Says 'India Is Everything to Me' (Watch Video).

Coming to the clash between the superstar and his fan, there are moments here and there that work, like the scene where Om Prakash first 'revolts' against Vijay after the latter's dressing down. It was a nice strong moment that promises a bigger powerplay. Even the scene near the climax, where Vijay outwits Om when the latter tries to fail his H driving test is sparkling. But in between, the battle lacks the energy and feels way too lopsided towards the man with the bigger entitlement. The issue is, Akshay's character never gets to don the greys apart from that dressing down scene, and he manages to keep that squeaky clean image intact, while Emraan's character suffers as a result in comparison. There is a scene where Om Prakash laments to his wife about his unexpected celebrity status, but without proper fleshing out, what could have been an insightful look into adverse effects of 15 minutes of fame feels watered down.

Also, while Emraan gives his best to the role, I feels he is still way too starry and that's distracting when you are playing someone fawning over a superstar. An actor like Pankaj Tripathi could have worked wonders perhaps in the role. Akshay, on the others, aces the part well, only once again, for the film not elevating up to his level. Diana Penty, as Vijay's wife, is just about okay in a role that doesn't give her much scope, which also applies to Nushrratt Bharuccha's role. Abhimanyu Singh's scenes are aimed purely at the frontbenchers to earn chuckles with his farcical gags. Meghna Malik as an opportunistic politician has the funniest line in the film that's already spoilt in the trailer. I don't know what's more embarrassing - Adah Sharma in that stupid The Kerala Story teaser or Adah Sharma farting on Akshay here for the sake of comedy. PS - What's with Raj Mehta and his love for women farting? Saw a similar gag in Good Newwz too. Good Newwz Movie Review: Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor Khan Are in Sparkling Form in This Feel-Good Entertainer.

Final Thoughts

A problem with having watched and loved the original film is that when watching the remake, there will always be a viewer bias. That can only be deflected when the remake outdoes the original or at least be on par with it. Sadly in the case of Selfiee, this is one driving test the film doesn't pass with flying colours, even if it tries hard. Still, Selfiee is better than any of Akshay's films that came out last year. So win some, lose some, eh? Now let me start worrying about that Ayyappanum Koshiyum remake, starring John Abraham and Arjun Kapoor.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 24, 2023 01:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).