The President Is Coming

Cast: Konkona Sen Sharma, Shernaz Patel, Ira Dubey, Vivek Gomber, Namit Das, Satchit Puranik, Anand Tiwari
Language: Hindi
Director: Kunaal Roy Kapur
Producer: Rohan Sippy, Keshav Prakash
Camera: Keshav Prakash
Story: Anuvab Pal
Screenplay: Anuvab Pal
Dialogue: Anuvab Pal
Year: 2009

‘The President Is Coming’ is a funny, witty satire about six young Indians aspiring to shake hands with the US President.

As George W Bush is poised to take a bow from the White House, it makes all the more sense to pay an ode to his unmatched goofiness through a feelgood tale of half a dozen youngsters vying to meet him through a contest on the lines of Bigg Boss. ‘The President Is Coming’ is set in 2006 when Dubyaman visited India and expressed his wish to meet a young Indian who would exemplify the new India emerging as an economic superpower.

Writer Anuvab Pal takes cue from this idea and weaves a delectable yarn around it, filled with tongue-in-cheek gags and droll repartee. Originally a play, the story has been adapted well on the big screen by director Kunaal Roy Kapoor.

At the centre of the plot are six characters from different parts of India, each with his or her unique and contrasting qualities and idiosyncrasies. There’s a literary-inclined, pseudo-intellectual, snooty divorcee ( Konkona Sen Sharma ) who looks down upon others. There’s a call center employee (Vivek Gomber) with a superficial Yankee accent and a personal experience of having lived in the US, though as an illegal immigrant.
There’s a geeky techie (Namit Das) who’s awfully and disastrously off the mark in wooing girls and is an ardent fan of Kamal Haasan . There’s more to his sexuality than meets the eye at first.

There’s a pampered rich girl (Ira Dubey) who’s vain as a peacock and dumb as some blonde hotel heiress. There’s a jingoistic Maharastrian (Satchit Puranik) with an expected derision for anything videsi. And there’s a Gujarati stock broker (Anand Tiwari) who thinks he can win a handshake with Dubya by greasing a few palms.

In this colourful melee, as the sextet contend and jostle to outshine each other while being confined to a room (like in reality shows) we are treated to a series of hilarious bouts. The dialogues are sprinkled with a nice seasoning of wit and slapstick, at times even bordering on buffoonery, though the likeable one.

Konkona leads the pack with a heart-winning performance. Ira Dubey, Anand Tiwari and Satchit Puranik are confident and comical. Vivek Gomber and Namit Das seem to go over the top at moments.

‘The President Is Coming’ has a few raw edges as far as cinematography and editing is concerned. But the film unspools at a fast pace and keeps you thoroughly entertained throughout its running course of one-and-half hours.

This President deserves seat bums and not boot.

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