Bheja Fry is a watchable film mainly for the way Vinay Pathak single handedly rises way, way above the film with a crackerjack of a performance. Otherwise the film, heavily inspired by the French comedy The Dinner Game, is reasonable entertainment at best and a so-so directorial debut for Sagar Ballary.

The film looks at Ranjeet Thadani (Rajat Kapoor), a bored, arrogant music company executive who hurts his back the night he has found a prize catch for a weekly bring- your-idiot talent dinner hosted by his friends and him. He has to cancle the dinner and ends up spending the evening with this idiot, Bharat Bhushan (Vinay Pathak), a tax official with a passion for music, who tries to help him get his wife (Sarika) back who left him earlier that day. The result is utter chaos let loose by the idiot, who cannot do a single thing without messing it up further. The plot turns around to be a series of mini disasters that leave Ranjeet's comfortable life in ruins. Call it the idiot's revenge!

The film begins slowly as it leads to essentially its one set piece, Ranjeet Thadani's house. The film really picks up once the idiot he has called for dinner, Bharat Bhushan, lands up at the house. Of course the story is predictable as by the end of the film Ranjeet is made to look into himself and realize who is the actual idiot here. But in such stories it is the treatment that counts and the film does have enough moments of fine humour and is aided by some witty dialogue and repartee.

As mentioned above, the film is essentially a brilliant showcase for Vinay Pathak and as the idiot Bharat Bhushan, he is spot on. It is an absolutely brilliantl performance, his sense of comic timing razor sharp. It is Vinay who keeps the laughs coming in and ensuring the film chugging along. Whether it is his earnestness at trying to set things rights but only making things worse or the hurt on his face each time he is asked to get out or his irriting gestures (redial, it's ringing) each time on the telephone, he is a riot. Rajat Kapoor while being the most inhibited one has ever seen him, still seems to be not quite at home especially in the louder scenes and always seem to be holding something back as is he is afraid to let go. In that sense it is a disappointing performance. Milind Soman is adequate as Sarika's ex lover finding Rajat's mess al the more amusing for once but Ranvir Shourey's contorted over the top performace sticks out like a sore thumb. Sarika is reliably efficient in her small role. Bhairavi Gosawmi is cast correctly as Rajat's saucy mistress rather than any strong hitrionic ability on her part.

On the flip side, the script has its share of problems. The Rajat Kapoor - Sarika marriage for one. True they have problems in their marriage but you never feel Sarika has reached breaking point to leave Rajat. And so it appears quite unbelievable when she does do so. And this is a major flaw as this is one of the key points of the script. There is an inconsistent treatment of the humour in the film. It swings from being really funny and witty to cheesy and juvenile at places. As the film comes to its end, its attempt to invoke a poignant mood as Rajat realizes his mistake and Vinay tries reconciling the husband and wife, doesn't quite gel and gets heavy handed. The other problem with the film is that many low budget films go for ideas that keep locations and characers to a minimum and similarly here majority of the action takes place in Rajat's house. This however ends up looking more like filmed theatre. Maybe this is so because the filmmaker has attempted to keep the flow more flexible following the actors rather than follow conventional cinematic cutting. Works well for the actors but...

Technically the Production Design is a let down, displaying the film's low budget especially in the film's main set piece, Rajat and Sarika's house. (What is that chatai doing there???) You never realize from the way the house as is presented as to how well- to-do Rajat and Sarika are and hence Rajat's fear of the Tax Official (Ranveer Shourey) coming to the house and noticing the undeclared Manjit Bawa painting and other paintings is never believable. As mentioned above, the camerawork is more an exuse to record the actor's performances rather than a strong cinematic contribution to the film. The songs by Sagar Desai are well composed and Editor Suresh Pai keeps the film moving along smoothly.

All in all, time-pass at best...