Munna Michael is Bollywood’s big release of this week. Tiger Shroff plays the lead in the movie, with newcomer Nidhhi Agerwal as his heroine. The interesting part is Nawazuddin Siddiqui is playing the main antagonist. Tiger Shroff is quite popular among the youth thanks to his terrific dancing and martial arts skills. His collaboration with director Sabbir Khan has already given him two hits in Heropanti and Baaghi. Will Munna Michael be third time lucky for them? Read our review to find out…

What is about

Michael (Ronit Roy), a background dancer in movies, finds a baby in a garbage bin, takes him home and raises him as his son. The kid grows up as Munna Michael (Tiger Shroff), who like his father, becomes an ardent fan of late Michael Jackson, and emulates his dancing moves. He earns his living by winning dancing bets at pubs (yes, that’s a job here) but one such challenge gets him banned from all pubs in Mumbai. For his father’s medical treatment, he goes to Delhi where he meets Mahender Fauji (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a dreaded gangster and hotel owner. Mahender asks him to teach him how to dance within 30 days, which Munna reluctantly agrees for the pay. When he saves Mahender from a murder attempt, they became thick friends and Mahender reveals his secret to learn dancing – he is in love with a club dancer Dipika (Nidhhi Agerwal) and wants to impress her. But when Munna sees her, even he falls for her and things get complicated for everyone involved. (ALSO READ: Munna Michael quick movie review: Tiger Shroff trying to teach Nawazuddin Siddiqui dancing provides some funny moments)

What’s hot

One thing we have to give it to director Sabbir Khan is that he knows what Tiger Shroff’s fans expect from their idol, and he lets his movies have enough such scenes to pander to them. And Munna Michael is no exception to the rule. You want to see Tiger Shroff show off his abs? Tick. You want to see Tiger dance like a dream? You got it. You want to see Tiger do some kick-ass martial arts moves? Done. You want to see Tiger romance a heroine with whom he might never be paired again? You got it. As a Tiger Shroff fan, if only these are what you expect from his movies, then Munna Michael is for you. Then there is the presence of Nawazuddin Siddiqui who can even make charcoal shine at least like plastic diamond. A couple of scenes between Tiger and Nawazuddin show some sparkle. In fact, they have better chemistry than what Tiger has with Nidhhi.

What’s not

If you have to compare between all the three movies Sabbir has made with Tiger, this comes out as the worst. Apart from completely relying on his hero’s already established dancing skills and Nawaz’s already established histrionics, there is nothing else this movie has to offer you. The movie sure had a promising premise – of a dancer teaching a Don to dance, but that’s done away with a song and a couple of scenes. The love triangle is also mundane having seen the likes of such in movies like R…Rajkumar. The director seems not interested in establishing any of the plots and subplots, forgetting them immediately in favour of showing off hero’s dancing skills. There is the subplot of the ailing father, which is forgotten to establish the friendship with the don, which then is sidelined for romance, and even that takes a backseat for a reality show subplot. In short, not a single track is developed here, but each subplot does give Tiger ample opportunities to show off his torso and dance. Okay, we all know by now that Tiger is the best dancer in town, but can we move ahead of that?

The tone of the movie is also very uneven, with comedy getting in the way of emotional sequences. And it’s not even funny. In a movie made in 2017, we still have gay caricatures and Navi Mumbai being passed off as Delhi in a particular scene. Munna Michael also suffers from the lack of a compelling score that Baaghi boasted. Even as a tribute to the late MJ, the movie is a disappointment.

I like Tiger Shroff for his commitment towards his art, but it’s high time that he does something different in his next. His performance, while quite improved from Heropanti, still has a lot of rough edges. The doe-eyed Nidhhi Agerwal is beautiful and not a bad actor, but she remains a typical masala heroine with no scope to be different. While her dancing skills are good, they are not fab enough to win a dance reality show as shown in the movie. Nawazuddin Siddiqui tries earnestly to add his trademark spunk to the proceedings. While he does succeed at times, he ends up hamming in a couple of scenes. He is also not very convincing as the dreaded don who can take down wrestlers easily. His final dance scene is badly edited.

Also, I recommend the makers of this movie to check out how dance reality shows actually work. You don’t have someone swoop in to save the day for the contestant during a finale. And I am sure feminism is definitely taking a step backwards with that scene. Also please give Farah Khan the award for the most OTT performance. (SPOILER ALERT!)

P.S. – I wonder what Chitrangada Singh was doing in this movie. She gave up Babumoshai Bandookbaaz for script issues, but has no problems in making fleeting appearances here with not a single dialogue.

What to do

Like I said before, if all you want to see Tiger Shroff dancing a lot and Nawaz being, well, Nawaz, then Munna Michael may be fleetingly entertaining for you. Otherwise, it is just a boring, confused masala flick masquerading as a half-hearted tribute to the late Michael Jackson.