If you liked Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, you might just about enjoy this over-the-top, slapstick comedy. As the writer and director, Rajkumar Santoshi has no one to blame but himself for this juvenile caper in which a wannabe actor poses as a policeman setting off a chain of absurd events.

Shahid Kapoor tries really hard to be make Vishwas a character you will like. I did not, because I could not figure out if he had a true personality that I could hook into. His obsession with his mother and the ‘Maa’ song in the background made me cringe. His hamming and literal interpretation of comedy made me squirm. But his action scenes, intense moments and hints of vulnerability endeared.

Ileana D’Cruz is lovely and though she tried really hard, the chemistry between her and Kapoor did not work.

Padmini Kolhapure acts like she’s still in an 80s melodrama and who can blame her given that the material is much like the movies of that time – an evil father, a single mother raising her son and imposing her dreams on him; a caricatured villain with wild hair and corrupt cops. There is a riot of colours and songs are inserted in without any narrative flow. Locations jump from some set to some foreign location to another set.

The film often think feels like you are reading a comic book, but comedy itself is rather subjective.

Rating: **