Sunil Grover (Gutthi) is implanted so strongly in the mind as a funny mimic that it’s impossible to take him seriously as an actor. He plays a character called Arnab Ghosh and the nation is certainly not so naive as to not know who he is standing in for. Director Vishal Mishra is clueless about what he wants to do when it comes to handling the world of TV news. At times, he is trying out parody, at others, its satire and then even playing it very straight. As a result what you get is an irredeemable mess.
One minute you have Grover ridiculing a politician in the studio, not allowing him to word sideways, the next you see him wearing pyjamas that say “Zindagi Rude, Hum Dude”. There is more: an irritable and irritating pregnant wife at home, a make-up man-cum-chail wala and a cameraman-cum-courier. These two play fictional characters in the supposed news reports engineered by the channel. Confused? Well, so am I. Still. But then it only gets worse. There is a woman journalist, portrayed by Dipannita Sharma, who should be described as a misogynist’s dream.
A fashion journalist is a “chaddi-baniyan” reporter who is prone to shedding her clothes easily but who is also “desh ki sabse badi news writer” without showing any modicum of intelligence. What kind of imagination does a filmmaker have? Now this fashion journo also goes with Arnab all the way to Karachi for an exclusive interview with the underworld Don D. But pray why? To let the goondas all leery at her and have some more lewd jokes pouring in. Why do journalists ever story ideas stacked in plastic files and folders? Why would they tweet about a big interview without it even getting fixed?
The filmmaker’s approach is more singularly spoofy but still not successfully so. Alas, his herculean efforts are wasted. All because the script expects him to make the audience laugh at jokes like instagram being referred to as the gram panchayat. #Haha!
My verdict: Lastly, in the name of relevance you finally do get a scene where Arnab tries to buy groceries but the credit cards aren’t working and there is no cash in the wallet either. The only credit Coffee with D then gets is that of being the first Bollywood film to portray demonetisation. Beyond that what is there to recall!
– Viany Gupta
Film Maker and Producer, Vinr Films
Vinay Gupta Producer, VinR Films is a third-generation entrepreneur, with rich and varied experience in a wide range of business domains. Vinay is a software engineer from Amity, NOIDA. and has completed his MBA from the IT division of Symbiosis International University. He is also the Founder Director of Dynamic Technosoft (Software Company) and a Director in Vinsam Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. (Investments & Wealth Management Company). In his professional career Vinay has diverse experience in the fields of information technology, software projects, infrastructure development, financial wealth management, film making etc.
