Joker runs out of gas as soon as director Shirish Kunder establishes the plot, because neither does the comic quotient work, nor do the aliens. Akshay Kumar does nothing extraordinary as Agastya. Sonakshi mostly clings on to Akki’s arm, feel critics.
“From the looks of it, Joker reminds one of Signs [the crop circles], seems inspired by Koi Mil Gaya [UFO, alien], also Swades [a well-settled Indian in the U.S. returns to his roots — his village], Lagaan [the dhoti-clad hero and the villagers strike a pose] and Golmaal series [Shreyas Talpade’s incoherent speech, a la Tusshar Kapoor] and of course, the fav of many a film-maker, Spielberg’s ET. Yet, despite everything going in its favor, Joker falls flat on its face!” writes Taran Adarsh, Bollywood Hungama.
“Joker runs out of gas as soon as director Shirish Kunder establishes the plot, because neither does the comic quotient work, nor do the aliens [fake and actual] salvage the show. In fact, the film makes a mockery of everything you may have seen or heard of UFOs and aliens,” feels Adarsh.
“While bits and pieces of the first half is tolerable, the film goes completely awry in its post-interval portions. Seriously, what was Kunder thinking while penning and executing this one? Imagine an alien dancing to Indian songs and also doing pelvic thrusts!!! Yes, you read that right!” adds Adarsh.
“Joker introduces us to some dirty, monstrous looking aliens, that might just scare you at a glance, unlike the cute, adorable Jaadu from Koi Mil Gaya. Everything about the film so far has been too overrated and lousy. Though these points aren’t too good for the health of Joker’s Box Office predictions, but, you never know, lady luck might strike Kunder this time, after his last disastrous Jaan-e-Man,” reports OneIndia.
“Although the story of Joker is quite unusual and new for the audience, there are some aspects that remind you of other movies. For example, Akshay’s costumes resemble those of Aamir’s in Lagaan, the PJs cracked in the movie reminded me of Hansa from Khichdi, and the gibberish language spoken by Shreyas Talpade’s character prompted me to think about Tusshar Kapoor in Golmaal,” writes Vidhi Sharma, Missmalini.com.
“As a one-line idea Joker might have appeared as an interesting concept. But when the one line is sketched (rather stretched) into a full-length film, you realize that it was better restricted till the one-line only,” writes Gaurav Malani, TOI.
“The fundamental flaw of the film is that the moment where you feel there’s something actually happening in the story, the film ends. Prior to that the narrative just keeps beating around the bush with its silly rural setup and caricatured characters of villagers,” adds Malani.
Script “Shirish Kunder’s premise for Joker is too simplistic. Obviously, logic takes a backseat but it’s the predictability that is the real downer. The dialogues are alright. Some of the puns like Simon Goeback, the tongue-in-cheek timing of the Ayega song etc. are well written. The reason behind the title of the film Joker is well thought of,” writes Roshni Devi, Koimoi.com.
Direction “Jaan-E-Mann, Kunder’s directorial debut, had style and substance both, but Kunder’s intention of making an entertainer that hits the right notes fails this time. Choosing an unconventional story is great, but coming up with a gripping 2-hour film is nothing short of a challenge and that’s where this film boomerangs [thankfully, the run time of the film is less than 2 hours!]. In fact, it gets cumbersome to sit through the film after a point, since what unfurls is ridiculous and bizarre,” says Adarsh.
“Shirish Kunder seems to be more of a visual director. Like his last directorial venture Jaan-e-mann, he adds appeal to some frames esp. while creating the animated firefly-lit village backdrop. Alas he lacks screenplay sense. Neither is he able to add conviction to his offbeat idea nor is he able to engage the audience with consistent or credible comedy. The artificial aliens (supposedly the mainstay of the film) are inducted only after the interval and the first half meanders in nothingness,” says Malani.
