In the season of brainless comedies, Nagesh Kukunoor’s rom-com Bombay To Bangkok strives to be different. And it is indeed different to the extent that you will scowl at the “funny” scenes, and laugh at those meant to be serious.

Bombay To Bangkok stars Shreyas Talpade as a cook who sets off to start a new life when he chances upon a purse stuffed with US dollars. When he discovers the money belongs to a local don, he takes the next flight out of the country and lands up in Bangkok, slipping his way into a group of Indian doctors on a charitable mission. He loses the purse soon enough, and ends up falling hook line and sinker for a Thai massage girl, which is of course a polite way of saying Thai prostitute.

Bombay to BangkokNow problem is, he doesn’t speak any Thai, and she doesn’t speak no Hindi, so their communication is limited to whatever little English the two of them can muster up. Before they know it, they’re on the run from the angry don’s son, a struggling rap artiste by the way, who’s been instructed by his dad to bring the money back and fix the fellow who had the nerve to steal it.

Betrayed by a script that’s full of flaws, Bombay To Bangkok is unimaginative and indifferent for the most part, and doesn’t once suggest that it’s the brainchild of the same filmmaker who gave us such gems as Hyderabad Blues, Teen Deewarein and Iqbal.

Bombay To Bangkok’ does have a few hilarious moments. The track between the don’s son, JamK (Vijay Maurya) – an aspiring but tortuous rapper – and a wacky, romantic shrink (Jeneva Talwar) leave you in splits. And there are other scenes that evoke sporadic spurts of laughter. But mostly the humour remains slapstick and utterly juvenile. Like in the sequence in which the two lovers (Shankar and Jasmine) make fun of words from each other’s language.

Shreyas Talpade puts in a sincere performance but is not supported by a solid script. Lena Christensen is eye-candy. Her role doesn’t put much demand on her in terms of acting. Anyway, she doesn’t have more than a selected few expressions on her face throughout the film.

Vijay Maurya is good. Manmeet Singh (playing Rachinder, Talpade’s buddy and translator) chips in some good humour. Naseeruddin Shah is hardly there.

Bombay To Bangkok’ also suffers from forgettable music, mediocre cinematography and poor production values.

If you are looking for an entertaining weekend, this film is not the answer.

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