Bollywood loves a hybrid, so there’s nothing necessarily unusual about a comedy-adventure-romance-musical. But “99,” with bits of all those elements, mixes them up in a way that has more in common with American indies (division: hipster) than with standard Hindi-movie fare.
The story follows a pair of luckless scam artists, Sachin and Zaramud (Kunal Khemu and Cyrus Broacha), who travel to Delhi from Mumbai to collect a debt for their bookie boss. In Delhi (surprise!), there’s a girl for Sachin (Soha Ali Khan), a gambler who owes everyone money (Boman Irani) and various vivid high- and lowlifes. (Mr. Irani and Amit Mistry, as a Delhi operator, steal the show.)
Directed by the first-time feature filmmakers Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, “99” favors a kind of naturalism, both in its comedy, which is character-based rather than slapstick, and in its look. (The cinematographer, Rajeev Ravi, finds a nice balance between gritty realism and lush romanticism.)
There’s a jaunty, tango-y score and a montage set to a song, but as for that great Bollywood signifier, the song-and-dance sequence, “99” basically just says no. (This is unusual but not unheard of, and no doubt what made the gent behind me declare the film “modern.”) We glimpse the real thing only briefly: on a film set where a dance routine is being rehearsed, and during the end credits.
Funny, assured and just inventive enough, “99” is a refreshing sign that commercial Indian cinema has room in its big tent for more than one kind of storytelling.
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