Film Review | Motor Mittran Di on Bumpy Ride

Film Motor Mittran Di is a situation comedy based on Punjab’s important social issue Derawaad (Human Worshiping). This is a light hearted, but a weak film about a strong subject. 

Vagabond Rajveer is a spoilt brother of a motor mechanic Wadda Bai (Gurpreet Ghuggi) and Happy (Happy Raikoti) is a worker at their workshop. Wadda Bai has full faith in Shri Guru Granth Sahib and hates self made God men. Heartbroken Wadda Bai is allergic about girls too. On the other hand Rajveer is a playboy. With the ‘blessings’ of Baba Prabh Chand Mohammad Dev Singh (Yograj Singh) Rajveer buys one knackered bus to start his transport business. In his royal Ashram Baba enjoys all the luxuries of the material world. From the very beginning, we get a hint that Rajveer is on some secret mission. One fine day Rajveer pulls over the bus at Aashram. Meanwhile a tragic incident happens with Madhu (Sonia Mann) inside the ashram. This incident takes them to tragic ride. How they get out of this situation is the core of the story.

It seems a wise idea of Amitoj Maan and Waqas Quereshi to make a light hearted situation comedy on a serious issue, but weak acting wasted all the best efforts. Both the writers tried their best to create situational comedy out of tragic situations, but wishy washy performances by Ranjha Vikram Singh and Happy Raikoti makes it a lifeless story. Gurpreet Ghuggi alone tries to elevate the script and as Baba Yograj Singh compliments him very well. In the beginning and the later part of second half mindless stand-up comedy takes over the finest situational comedy, which ruins the charm and pace of the screenplay. It weakens the Amitoj Mann’s basic idea to make a real situational comedy for Punjabi cinema. Though, Amitoj has been successful in creating the character of Baba with fine details almost resembling to the real life ‘messenger of God’. Even, he tried to add some extra colors and style to this celluloid Baba, which makes his character more interesting and entertaining. In the end film takes a preachy tone. Even then Motor Mittran Di succeeds in appropriately projecting its bold subject and suggests a solution too. 

Even after working hard on minute details screenplay becomes sloppy in places. The most illogical fact is that if Rajveer is a CBI officer how his real brother could never know this? He keeps cursing Rajveer throughout the film for being a Nikkamma and Kammchor. Even when Rajveer keeps dancing and jumping around on the bus no one sees his revolver, but suddenly he pulls out a revolver at the climax. When he carries the girl’s dead body on top of the bus he could not smell any chemical, but latter he confidently reveals that a dead body was preserved with a chemical. There are a lot of big and small hiccups which loosens the grip. Few scenes are really well made and leave the audience rolling in the aisles. The most hilarious scene is the one when a police constable stops two thieves running with the coffer in the forest. Another one happens at a police check post. Few dialogues are effective, but there is a scope for improvement. Censor board muffled the dialogue ‘Qatil Messenger of God Nahi Ho Sakda’ (A killer can’t be a messenger of God).

With his flawless performance Gurpreet Ghuggi carries the whole film on his shoulders and as a perfect antagonist Yograj Singh compliments him. Ghuggi aptly portrays the character of a firm believer of Sikhism and a man of ethics. Yograj has got into the skin of Baba. From his dialogue delivery to dancing style he delivers naturally and emotes perfectly. Sardar Sohi has dared to break his own stereotype and he does it very well. Harsharan as Deepak surprises. Important subject and these characters make this film one time watch. Though, Happy Raikoti and Ranjha Vikran Singh fall short of the expectations. Ranjha Vikram Singh looks dashing on the screen, but fails to get into the character and deliver the required emotions. His body language and dialogue delivery doesn’t sync at all. For the first time Sonia Mann looks charming on the big screen and she perfectly wears the emotions of a hag. But she needs to work hard on her other emotions else she would be getting offers for witchy roles only. 

Music is passable. Krishan Ramanan’s cinematography and Tirath Singh’s art direction create perfect atmosphere. Chetna Virmani deserves a special applause for Baba’s costumes. Editing by Inder Ratual is apt. For choosing a core subject of Punjab, creating a few good characters and making a few really mesmerizing scenes, Motor Mittran Di deserves at least two stars.