Unimaginative script lets down Rangadhara’s Idiot

Plot: Originally penned by Madan Bamb, Idiot is the story of Raj Malhotra and Simran, a married couple battling severe trust issues. Simran, the quintessential homemaker who spends her most of her time watching suspense movies and crime shows at home, suspects her journalist husband is having an extra marital affair. Trouble breaks out when Raj, one day, offers to give a lift to Priyanka, a Page 3 celeb and almost gets arrested on charges of eve-teasing, much to Simran’s chagrin.
Review: Idiot is a no-brainer that used the three-act dramatic structure — exposition, rising action and resolution, but sadly, didn’t have much comic content to offer.The script stretched on unnecessarily deploying tedious song and dance sequences. Replete with references to Bollywood blockbusters and never-ending soaps on TV, the script, in a bid to garner laughter, tried to mould filmi witticism into its plot but failed to make the desired impact on the audience. Often a little novelty in execution and timing can make cliché jokes sound afresh, but the amateur cast of this Rangadhara production didn’t do much in this regard.
While Suhas Barve, as Raj, was stiff as a board, fumbling a couple of times with his dialogues, Asmita Kale as Simran seemed too pre-occupied with the script to get her expressions right. The highlight of the cast however, was Harshal Dhoke. Portraying a shrewd police inspector, Dhoke hogged the limelight with his inquisitive demeanour and fluid dialogue delivery, as long as he was on stage. Direction-wise, Suhas didn’t put in much thought into the play and adhered to the three-act narrative structure. Technically, the light play aided the acts with its near-perfect positioning and acute timing but it was the recorded background score that was a disappointment. It did nothing to elevate the scenes and stuck to just playing transitional music during blackouts and dance sequences.
Verdict: Idiot is a simple plot that dwells on trust issues among married couples. It’s an easy-going story that needed a little masala — both in terms of content and acting. If dialogue writers Sanyogita and Sushant could have added a little originality to the dialogues and had director Suhas employed a more imaginative narrative style, Idiot could have made for an amusing light-hearted watch. But that wasn’t to be.