BRIJ MOHAN AMAR RAHE: A Mean-spirited, Semi-Entertaining Black Comedy

Though I have harboured some negative feelings for American Netflix originals like The Kissing Booth and Bright, I find myself enjoying some of their foreign offerings this year. Ali’s Wedding is a charming and at times hilarious look at immigration and multiculturalism in Australia, and Us And Them may now be one of my favourite romantic dramas of all time.

Unfortunately, Brij Mohan Amar Rahe has not maintained this streak, and though it may be funny and entertaining at points, it mostly comes across as unpleasant to watch and unintentionally muddled.

Brij Mohan Amar Rahe

The brief Netflix description, which carelessly gives away almost every event up to the third act of the film, was certainly what attracted and drew me in. They state that in order to escape his growing mob debts and run away with his young girlfriend, Brij Mohan Gupta (Arjun Mathur) fakes his death and becomes Amar Sehti, unfortunately getting arrested for his own murder in the process.

I found this concept fresh and fascinating, and found myself watching the film in anticipation of what direction they could take this central conceit in. Regrettably, it took well over an hour for this to even take place, and the film feels like all setup and no payoff.

Comedic Cruelty

This movie almost reminded me of plays like Waiting For Godot, at points in terms of its farcical and cynical approach to comedy, but with less success and far less of a wider point to make. The word ‘motherf*cker’ is thrown around as both an insult and descriptor with reckless abandon, and this alongside the frequent images of strangulation create a harsh and dour mood that permeates the movie.

At times it is hard to know which disturbing images are meant as jokes and which are meant to shock, though it can be argued that this uncomfortable grey area is where much of the laughs are formed.

This concept becomes more problematic with the many instances of domestic violence against unsympathetic women, however. Both major female characters are depicted as shallow shopaholics indifferent to Brij’s love for them, and are both subjected to some of his violent rages. It is unclear whether this is a setup for a laugh, and the moments therefore just feel unnerving and disturbing. And although I can’t comment on this myself (being from Britain), the movie apparently leans heavily on New Dehli stereotypes rather than crafting any original characters.

Performances

Every actor in Brij Mohan Amar Rahe decided to approach their role in a similar fashion; that of over the top absurdity. The film may be farcical and far-fetched, but not one character feels like an actual human being. Arjun Mather plays the lead almost as a straight man who has to contend with the insane antics of others, but Brij’s struggles may have felt more understandable if the people surrounding him didn’t feel so cartoonishly evil.

Though Nidhi Singh might pick up a few laughs as Brij’s wife Sweety, her intense coldness towards him and her outright cruelty and ableism towards his elderly grandfather make each scene with her incredibly hard to relate to on any level. It is similar for his selfie-obsessed younger girlfriend and the slick, cruel mobsters he contends with, who just come across as caricatures.

An Underlying Moral?

From the corrupt police department and careless judge to the mob threats lingering over Brij, this is a movie that seems to be attempting a critique on the unfairness of societal structures, and the absurd trials our protagonist must go through in order to achieve his goals.

This could have been interesting with the same premise, if it wasn’t for the fact that Brij is a thoroughly detestable character. As well as committing several murders without any kind of remorse or consideration of the consequences, he also abandons his family for the vague promise of money and sex. Brij Mohan Amar Rahe may be about karma, but without any redeeming qualities to cling to, its hard to maintain interest in the protagonist.

Conclusion

I’m not an easy person to get an audible laugh from during a film, and Brij Mohan Amar Rahe did achieve that at points, though very little else. In the moments where I wasn’t chuckling, I was mostly just feeling disturbed or offended, and wondering when our despicable protagonist was going to get a genuine comeuppance. The ending is satisfying and goes some way to solving this issue, but I felt frustrated for the majority of the runtime, and the brutal conclusion wasn’t quite enough to resolve my issues with the movie.

What did you think? Are you enjoying Netflix’s original movies this year? Let me know in the comments!

Brij Mohan Amar Rahe was released on Netflix worldwide on August 3, 2018.