Surrey saw the earliest premiere of the much hyped wedding comedy Manje Bistre 2 at Surrey Strawberry Hill Wednesday night with media and local film actors in attendance as well the main star, writer and producer Gippy Grewal introducing the film with his filmmaking partner Baljit Singh Deo. Gippy warned the audience right at the beginning that they should put their brain away for the 2 plus hours if they want to enjoy the film cause it’s an all entertainer – meaning brainless screwball comedy Punjabi style. I have to admit that I’m not into these types of annoying comedies where they sit around jabbering and jabbering a lot of nonsense – which they do a lot in Manje Bistre 2. But slowly the film found its beat and began to be tolerable and actually somewhat enjoyable for me! I loved Simi Chahal’s sweetness and natural dialogue delivery. She seemed to be the only one in the film trying to act as everyone else was being silly and stupid. Gippy himself isn’t much of an actor but he uses his star Jatt-Singer strengths to get by, which works for him. Also loved the cameo by my buddy Balvir Boparai as Grocery store manager – he got some of the best lines in the movie! Not a bad night at the movies but not a great one either but these days a tolerable Punjabi movie that doesn’t bore can be considered paisa vasool!
****By R. Paul Dhillon
