Sara Ali Khan

(Amazon Streaming, September 2021) Profoundly silly but often very entertaining, Coolie No. 1 is a comedy that takes us to an Indian train station, where our protagonist works as a porter — but not just any porter: the best one, the number one. His life suddenly becomes more complicated when he gets a glimpse at a local beauty whose rich father is trying to marry — and there’s a disgruntled marriage broker ready to engineer events for maximum chaos. Varun Dhawan is quite good in the lead role, able to reach the romantic, comedic and even the action requirements of the role. The script quickly gets down to classic dual-identity shenanigans, with the lead character pretending to be his richer twin brother, and characters either being fooled or not at all. Meanwhile, Sara Ali Khan makes for an excellent love interest (although I did like Shikha Talsania more as the female lead’s sister) and other characters provide the comic chaos required by the script. A handful of colourful musical numbers enliven things considerably, my favourite being the poppy “Mirchi Lagi Toh” set against a bright pastel square. Coolie No. 1 is not great or witty cinema: it mugs for the audience too often, relies on familiar material and falters with a climax that just goes slightly over the top. But it’s funny, likable, bouncy and colourful. That can be hit or miss, but it was a definite hit after a streak of watching so many serious films.