Raja Natwarlal Review

Emraan Hashmi has to be one of the most popular mass actors in India but he still lacks that mega hit film in his filmography. Raja Natwarlal has been promoted as a fun and entertaining con film from the onset so if it eventually fulfills the expectations it can be THAT big hit of Emraan Hashmi’s career. But unlike his other movies, Raja Natwarlal lacks chartbuster songs and that will affect the opening. Does Raja Natwarlal manage to be a fun con film. Let’s find out.

Story: Raja (Emraan Hashmi) is a small time conman who cons people with his mentor called Raghav (Deepak Tijori). Raja goes for a big con and ends up conning the men of a cruel evil businessman called Wardha Yadav (Kay Kay Menon). Raghav gets killed and now to avenge his death, Raja goes for Wardha and hatches a plan with a big conman called Yogi (Paresh Rawal) to sell him a CL20 team. The second half of the film is about how Raja manages to con Wardha and how he manages to keep his girlfriend Zia (Humaima Malik) and the evil policemen in toe.

Review: There are very few directors who know to use the rugged charm of Emraan Hashmi and Kunal Deshmukh is one of them. Raja Natwarlal is along the lines of the Jannat franchise where we see the slightly bad hero doing things the wrong way to set things right. Kunal, however, doesn’t manage to balance all the aspects of this con film. Raja Natwarlal starts low on steam and even a hurried end can’t salvage everything. The script doesn’t cover all the bases and even an assured sense of direction by Kunal Deshmukh is not enough. Raja Natwarlal, therefore ends up being a much lesser film than it could have been. It could have been enjoyed a lot more had the con been made more entertaining and loopholes been less in number. The thrills are also low.

Raja Natwarlal
Raja Natwarlal Movie Review

The technical aspects of Raja Natwarlal are decent but they don’t shine through. The editing is good but the flow is missing. The cinematography is average as the beautiful scenes of Mumbai and Cape Town are not captured to their maximum potential. The music of Raja Natwarlal is by the south music scion Yuvan Shankar Raja. The tunes seem cliched, formulaic and doesn’t help the film even a bit. For an Emraan Hashmi film, better music was expected. Even the romantic number Tere Hoke Rahenge falls flat. All in all, the music is the most disappointing part of Raja Natwarlal.

Acting: Emraan Hashmi is Raja Natwarlal and hence the entire focus is on him. Emraan doesn’t have much to do, though. He lives the characters he has played in most of his previous films but his charm is still there, thankfully. Paresh Rawal plays the role of big conman Yogi very well. Kay Kay Menon is a big let down as he seemingly overacts even in the most normal of scenes and is never quite as menacing as the script probably had him. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub has been wasted in his small role. Deepak Tijori was a pleasant surprise. Bollywood debutant Humaima Malik is good and shows everyone that she can act better than most debutants. If she had debuted in a better film, she could have shown off her acting chops a lot more.

Conclusion: Raja Natwarlal, promises a lot like the conman in the film, but eventually turns out to be very underwhelming. The major part of the film is focused on the act of con that occurs in the film and if that part was executed properly in an entertaining way without any illogicalities, Raja Natwarlal could have been a gem and joined the likes of 99 and Dhoom as the best con films made in Bollywood. But alas, it was not to be.

Box Office: Raja Natwarlal’s promotions have been lackluster and the music hasn’t caught on, which means the film will take a average opening. We expect the film to be an underwhelming proposition as far as the box office prospects are concerned.

Positives:

  • Emraan Hashmi’s character and his chemistry with Paresh Rawal
  • Humaima Malik shines
  • The climax salvages the film
  • The editing is good

Negatives:

  • The direction is lackluster and so in the con shown in the film
  • Too many loopholes
  • Music is disappointing
  • Cinematography is below par
  • Kay Kay Menon overacts to the hilt
  • Casting direction was way off the mark for many of the characters

Rating: ★★½☆☆

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31 Comments

  • In many plexes. Raja natwarlal had shows only in morning and noon. Evening and night were of katiyaabaz .mardaani etc.

  • It’s getting below average to average ratings from the critics. Emmy is a good actor and he looks good,but underrated!

  • Without any hit music, c grade actress, b grade director, no alia bhatt and deepika. Giving 8cr opening without promotions , weak music company(jungli music is local music company .has 5000 suscribers. T series and sony has lakhs of suscribers) is not a joke.

  • Happiness is watching your all time fav drama when you are in home!
    “naa judaa honge hum,
    kabhi khushee kabhi gham” @stargold !

  • definetly will watch this movie tonight.

    @Indicine, that is not fair…I have right to post my comments as I’m a regular visiter……my reall name is @Nipun Kumar…….is there anyone who have a problem with that???
    who many Nipun,Navin,Anand…..people are called.#

  • Popular mass actor that cant give a big hit or big opening? Wheres the proof? His recent films werent big in either single screens or multiplexes.

  • A popular actor ensures a big opening. This is a commercial film and opened low so he isnt a big star. Hes not in the top 10 at the moment. Ranveer, Sid, varun etc are ahead of him

  • Nice Review…may be i will watch it bcoz of Emraan-Kunal’s past record…

    I loved Jannat 2 and Jannat and both were quite underrated films compared to Dharma love stories which are pretty mediocre…both were high on emotional element.

    I think,music is a let down…Pritam should have been there instead yuvan shankar..
    and it has released on comparatively lesser screens than humpty,ek villain etc…it is just getting 6-7 shows at multiplexes in my city..

    Anyways my opening prediction will be:6.5crs

  • Agree with @raja natwarlal…not many things are in favour of this film,only Emraan is pulling it this time.

  • as expected, the trailer was lukewarm, music is good but not became chart buster, plus Emraan is no doubt a good actor but wasting his talent by doing same story film, a guy whose intention to earn money with shortcut or negative role example-murder,jannat series,raaz 3,ouatim,crook,RN etc. and if he do any different than Shanghai- good movie but not a success,TDP-lead was ViDhya etc. So these kind of work can’t enhance popularity and stardom of any actor.

    Btw Indicine so you rated RN as equal to Holiday both get 2.5 stars.Lol
    Watched holiday yesterday and must say what a film that is, great movie,Akshay rocked what at performance, most loved performance for me since Bhoolbhulaiya.Even Spl26 was great but its climax disappointed me.So I rate Holiday above that film.
    AR murugodas was a brilliant and thoughtful director First Ghajini and now Holiday. 4/5 from my side.

    I said when reviewing that SR is the best commercial entertainer this year till date as I didn’t scene Holiday then, now I take my words back, its Holiday which is best film this year so far.

  • @sky I don’t think u hv watched superhits like villain and 2 states bcz everyone has termed them better than sr and holiday.holiday is really gd but nt as gd as villain,2 states and kick

  • @Indicine, music was great! Also the music director name is Muhammad khaliq and not yuvan Shankar. He is the son of great music director ilayaraja, however conferred to Islam in February 2014. Please improve your knowledge.

  • I think it is a good movie. Emmi is underrated!! But Hrithik is better!! We are waiting for Bang Bang because it will be the best ever movie made in bollywood….

    @Indicine, this is my name and ID. I have the right to use it. If there can be so many Salman Khan like Superstar Salman Khan, Dancer Salman Khan, Mathematician and Academician Salman Khan, why can’t there be other Nipuns??

  • @Arjun kapoor4
    Stop giving ur biased suggestions and don’t force everyone to like ur youngistaan’s films..

    The fact is that Holiday despite getting a lesser opening, trended much better than Ek villain n 2 states…so the results have been their in terms of b.o collections…
    It is the second best trending film of 2014 after queen..

  • @arjun kapoor,don’t give wrong information,here is the genuine verdicts for you.

    qsqt-super hit
    dil-hit
    Ishq-semi hit
    Rh-atbb
    jjws-super hit
    Dhkmn-hit
    Rangeela-semi hit
    Hhrpk-below average
    ghulam-average
    Sarfarosh-average
    Dch-below average
    Lagaan-hit
    Fanaa-super hit
    Rdb-hit
    Tzp-super hit
    ghajini-bb
    3idiots-atbb
    d3-atbb

    amir has total 11 clean hits out of 38 films.containing flops 15 ,total flop%-47%.from 2000 onwards done-11 films,flop-2.from 2000 onwards IN SUCCESS HE IS BEHIND SRK as mentioned by @indicine’s one of article.

    SRK has 19 flops out of 55 films.flop%-34%.

    SRK IS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ACTOR HAVING HIGHEST HITS and least flop% IN WHOLE CAREER.TRULY JUSTIFIES THE NAME-KING OF BOLLYWOOD.

    @indicine,kindly post this non abusive comment that I have to inform someone,thank you.

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