While Baar Baar Dekho took a novel idea and messed it up with a tiresome narrative, writer-director Sohail Khan does the opposite. He gathers outdated and overused situations but goes for simple, linear storytelling which works in parts.

The humour is politically terribly inappropriate. A stuttering kid says ‘Tooperman’ for ‘Superman’, senior citizens are labelled ‘antiques’ and ‘way past their expiry date’, there’s fun at the expense of an albino who’s called a naqli angrez.

But Sohail gets his emotions right even if they’re exceptionally conventional. Orphan Ali has been picked up by Hindu woman Sulabha who raises him as a Muslim. Ali has conversations with his God in a dargah and there’s genial all-round harmony in the chawl. It’s a simple enough story of Ali accidentally discovering that he’s gifted with natural skills on a golf course.  From there on, it’s a dream run with the expected stumbles and tumbles until the final victory. 

The face-offs are also traditional old age cinema. Rich five-time champ Vikram Rathore humiliates and hurts Ali but it’s the underdog who wins the game and the dame.

There’s nothing classy about Sohail Khan’s craftsmanship that uses the ancient split screen technique to keep the story going.  Dialogues rhyme ‘style’ with ‘piles’ and ‘caddy’ with ‘daddy’. Or it gets comically dramatic with Ali’s mother shouting, “Todh de Ali, dushman ki galli.”     

But what prevails throughout is a sense of fun that never lets up even when the baddies get screen time. There’s a variety of characters like a Buddhon ka ghajini with convenient amnesia or a hunky Danger Bhai who has problems with his libido. Jackie Shroff making a crazy but impactful entry and his dialogues with Ali’s Maa, ensure that something’s always brewing.           

Sajid-Wajid come up with popular compositions like ‘Parinda hai parinda’ and ‘Ya Ali Murtaza’ which touch all the right chords.

But most of all Sohail Khan has a winner in Nawazuddin Siddiqui who is spot-on in his timing. From selling colourful chaddis to breaking into a dance, from cutting down the champ’s arrogance to saying, “Pants down” every time Vikram Rathore says, “Shut up”, Nawaz is a complete entertainer.

For an old style fun film that doesn’t take itself seriously, Freaky Ali gets a 2.5* rating.

Reviewed by
Bharathi S Pradhan
Senior Journalist & Author