RSVP’s Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota (UA) is a comedy film about a man suffering from congenital insensitivity to pain. That is to say, he does not feel physical pain of any kind.
Surya (Sartaaj Kakkar) is still a little kid when the doctor diagnoses him with a serious disease called congenital insensitivity to pain. Although patients suffering from this disease don’t survive, Surya is lucky. The doctor tells his father (Jimit Trivedi) and maternal grandfather (Mahesh Manjrekar) that Surya needs to remain hydrated all 24 hours of the day or else he could die. Surya’s mother had been killed in a road accident soon after Surya’s birth.
Little Surya is an adventurous kid and he is very friendly to Supri (Riva Arora) who studies with him in the same school and stays in the same building as him. Supri’s father (Nishad Rana) is a drunkard, thief and wife-beater. Her mother (Loveleen Mishra) is fed up of the father but, nevertheless, is too scared to walk out on him.
Soon, Surya’s dad and grandad are forced to leave their housing society due to Surya’s behaviour. Years pass by. Surya (Abhimanyu Dassani) is now a young grown-up lad who roams with a water bag. Although Surya’s father is very concerned about Surya’s health and hence does not want him to participate in any adventure, the grandfather indulges him and lets him do just about anything and everything he is desirous of doing.
Surya is fond of karate and idolises Karate Mani (Gulshan Devaiah) who, despite the amputation of one leg, is a karate champion. Karate Mani has a twin brother, Jimmy (Gulshan Devaiah), who is very jealous of Karate Mani.
One day, quite by chance, Surya meets Supri (Radhika Madan) who has grown up to be a beautiful girl and who has trained under Karate Mani. Soon, Surya realises the reason for Supri’s aloofness – she is to be married to an NRI and would be settling down in the USA. It’s a different thing that neither Supri nor her mother is happy about the groom because he is too dominating.
Karate Mani is devastated when Jimmy forcibly takes away his locket, gifted to him by their late father. Surya rises to the occasion and vows to get back the locket from Jimmy who runs a security agency and, therefore, has no dearth of musclemen. Even as Surya and Karate Mani are planning on how to bring back the locket from Jimmy, Supri is preparing to leave for the USA with her husband-to-be. Accompanying them are Supri’s parents too. Her mother asks Supri to run away from the airport at the last minute after the others have boarded the flight, so that she doesn’t get married to the boy whom both, Supri and her mom, don’t approve of.
Does Supri run away from the airport? Or does she go away to the USA? Do Surya and Supri unite? Does Surya succeed in getting back Karate Mani’s locket from Jimmy?
Vasan Bala has written a very unusual story replete with humour of a different kind. Since one has never seen a film about the protagonist suffering from congenital insensitivity to pain, the novelty factor is introduced right at the inception. Many of the jokes emanate from the dreaded disease, making the story quite unique. Vasan Bala has written the screenplay in a very fresh style which will be liked by the youth in the cities but may not be understood or enjoyed by the audience other than the youngsters. The humour and comedy keep the youth in splits very often. There are a few emotional moments too and a bit of a family drama also, making it a reasonably entertaining fare but which will be liked and enjoyed only by the youth in the cities. The climax may be predictable but it is still engaging and also laced with fresh humour. Vasan Bala’s dialogues are very funny but, of course, they’d appeal to the city youth only.
Abhimanyu Dassani makes a fine debut. He looks fairly nice, has a fantastic physique, acts well and performs stunts splendidly. Radhika Madan is a brilliant performer and natural to the core. She looks pretty and has done some wonderful action and stunts. Mahesh Manjrekar is excellent as Surya’s maternal grandfather. He evokes a lot of laughter. Gulshan Devaiah is the film’s mainstay. He is extraordinary as Jimmy and tickles the funny bone all the time. As Karate Mani, he does a splendid job. Jimit Trivedi is a fabulous actor and he proves this despite the fact that he has limited scenes as Surya’s dad. Shweta Basu Prasad looks good and acts ably in a special appearance as Surya’s mother. Nishad Rana is natural in the role of Supri’s father. Loveleen Mishra leaves a fine mark as Supri’s mother. Sartaaj Kakkar is cute and endearing as little Surya. Riva Arora makes her presence felt as little Supri. Elena Kazan (as Nandini), Satyajit Guna (as Atul), Harsh Sharma (as the doctor) and the others provide good support.
Vasan Bala’s direction is not just different from many others but it is also impressive. He has adopted a fresh and novel style of presentation which will keep the youngsters suitably entertained. Music (Karan Kulkarni) goes with the film’s mood and is appealing. Lyrics (Garima Obrah, Shantanu Ghatak and Hussain Haidry) are nice. Jay I. Patel’s camerawork is good. Action and stunt scenes have been beautifully choreographed/supervised by Eric Jacobus, Anand Shetty, Dennis Ruel and Prateek Parmar. Ratheesh U.K.’s production designing is appropriate. Prerna Saigal’s editing is sharp.
On the whole, Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota is a well-made film but it will be liked only by the youth in a handful of cities. The masses, family audiences and the public in the age group above 30 will not enjoy the film at all. Its poor promotion will adversely affect its box-office performance.
Released on 21-3-’19 at Sterling (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay by RSVP. Publicity & opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak everywhere.