‘Coolie No 1’ falls flat at the box office

The film is not only 'unfunny' at times, but also repeats 'problematic' aspects of the original according to reviews

Bollywood actors Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan’s latest film Coolie No 1 is getting bombed with unfavourable reviews from viewers, according to the Hindustan Times.

The David Dhawan film has a dismal rating of 1.4 on IMDb, which allows viewers to rate a film. For the unversed, it’s even worse than films such as Race 3 (1.9) and Himmatwala (1.7).

Coolie No 1 released on Amazon Prime Video this Friday and it has so far received 23,000 viewer ratings on IMDb. Despite the ratings, Amazon claims it registered the streamer’s biggest opening of the year. Perhaps it will ease the blow for the makers a little to know that it is still not the worst rated film of the year. Sadak 2, which released on Disney+ Hotstar in August, has a rating of 1.0.

The film has also received largely negative reviews from critics. The outlet’s review of the film read, “Although suspension of disbelief is a part of watching a David Dhawan film, Coolie No 1’s plot is hopelessly out of sync with today’s time. Men get hit in gonads and women are the victims of casual sexism. Speech impairment is mined for laughs, as is people’s weight. Even coronavirus is not spared as it is used in a rather tasteless, and unfunny, joke.”

Actor Shikha Talsania, who also stars in the film, responded to the negative reviews it received. She told Mid-Day, “Entertainment can be different for different people. A certain kind of humour works for me while another doesn’t. But I can choose to watch what I enjoy.”

Earlier, Sara was also asked about the ‘problematic’ aspects of the original film – namely one where Govinda’s character tricks Karishma’s character into falling for him – which is being replicated in the remake. To this she claimed that if everything is viewed through a politically correct lens, “any scope of humour in our lives will be lost.”

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