The Crew review: Kareena Kapoor, Tabu, and Kriti Sanon shine in gold smuggling black comedy

Gulf News

'The Crew,’ a tale of three cash-strapped and salary-deprived air hostesses turning to the world of gold smuggling and robbery, makes for a sporadically engaging watch primarily due to the lead trio of seasoned actresses. Charismatic talents Tabu, Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Kriti Sanon take this bumpy black comedy with some audacious twists off the ground with great dexterity.  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/bollywood/the-crew-review-kareena-kapoor-tabu-and-kriti-sanon-shine-in-this-black-comedy-on-gold-smuggling-1.1711714311108  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  #UAEnews #India #TheCrew

Transcript

00:00It's so refreshing to see a Bollywood movie that has roles written for women that are

00:04not put on a pedestal. They're not perfect women but they are enduring.

00:11Good afternoon, this is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from Gulf News. I'm the entertainment editor

00:16and I'm here with the review of the movie called The Crew. It stars Kareena Kapoor,

00:21Tabu and Kriti Sanon as cabin crew and it's a black comedy about three air hostesses

00:27who try their hand at gold smuggling. It's an audacious comedy and what I love about this film

00:33is that it's heartening to see three talented women. I have to say Tabu, Kareena Kapoor and

00:40Kriti Sanon are very accomplished actresses do the heavy lifting. It's not often that you see

00:46gangster movies or movies that deal with illegal activities being spearheaded by women. So it's

00:53really heartening to see feisty women and sassy women take the narrative forward and that's what

00:58really worked for me. You know when it comes to feminist movies sometimes what happens is that

01:04they take it very seriously but this is a black comedy. The context of it, the plot point of it

01:10is that three women who have worked as air hostesses have not been paid for several months,

01:15they are desperate, they are cash strapped, they are also sole breadwinners for the family

01:21and they need their salaries quick. They stumble into the scheme of laundering, of smuggling gold

01:27because their job kind of allows them to go through different countries with very minimal

01:32checks perhaps. What works for this film is of course Tabu. She's one of the most seasoned actresses

01:37and I can see the camaraderie between all these three women, the bondhomie, the sense of

01:42kinship between them because these are three women who are not in top form. They have their flaws

01:48but they are bold, they're just trying to make their ends meet. It's so refreshing to see a

01:52Bollywood movie that has roles written for women that are not put on a pedestal. They're not perfect

01:58women but they are enduring. What makes this comedy engaging are these three women and of course

02:04there are these cameos by very interesting people like Diljit Dosanjh who plays the customs officer

02:10who has a crush on Kriti Sanon's character and then there is Rajeev Sharma who plays the HR

02:17manager of this Kohinoor Airlines where these women work. The first half of the movie moves at

02:22a quick pace, it's zippy. We get a sense of why these women, they are very earnest at their jobs

02:27but are not being paid. So they're kind of desperate and they come up with this get quick

02:32rich scheme. It also talks about the flawed capitalist system where the owner of the Kohinoor

02:39Airlines, he's a flamboyant businessman but then he declares bankruptcy and then just escapes,

02:45leaving thousands of his employees in a lurch. They're all desperate. It kind of shows it's a

02:50mirror to the current times that we live in, the capitalist times that we live in that the rich

02:56kind of get off easy whereas it's the middle class that bear the brunt of the capitalist

03:02greed. In terms of performances, I have to tell you Thabu and Kareena Kapoor, even Kriti Sanon

03:07who's relatively more inexperienced than the other two, they hold their own and they seem to have a

03:13natural chemistry going on between them. They don't try too hard. In fact, there are scenes in

03:18the movie where there is a fallout between them. Let's not forget that these women, they may be

03:22very good looking, they may be very enduring but at the end of the day they're doing something very

03:26illegal. What I love about the movie is also Kareena Kapoor who plays Jasmine. I love her

03:31character because she's aspirational, she aspires for the fancy things in life. It's so good to see

03:37a Bollywood film that showcases their women as real people. I mean these are women that you might

03:42meet on a regular basis. So that's what makes this movie work as well. But I have to warn you

03:48that there are parts which are just audacious, especially the second half of the movie.

03:52The climax is just, you know, the parts in which the movie descends into robbery and utter chaos

03:58is not wholly believable. How they track down a flamboyant businessman and their former boss

04:03and become these Robin Hoods don't make much sense but if you're willing to suspend belief

04:08and just enjoy this ride then perhaps you'll walk off with a smile on your faces. And remember

04:14the soft branding in this movie is not so subtle. You often see brand endorsements being done and

04:19that's very very unsettling. But if you're in the mood to watch a black comedy where women are in

04:24top form then this movie is for you. I've gone with 3 out of 5. For our full review go to gulfnews.com

04:38you

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