Too Salty  
Film: Khatta Meetha, Cast: Akshay Kumar, Trisha, Filmed by: Priyadarshan, Duration: 148 minutes, Rating: * *

With the exception of ‘Hera Pheri’, Priyadarshan hasn’t really made a decent comedy even though a few of them have met with some success at the box office. Akshay Kumar’s magic also seems to be weaning off gradually after a string of non stop failures in the last couple of years.
With ‘Khatta Meetha’ (the1978 film of the same name directed by Basu Chatterjee was far far superior) the duo seems to be walking down the beaten path. There is hardly any plot to speak of and the comedy is purely slapstick aimed at those with a low IQ. The only thing different is the level of noise generated in this film—everybody screams their lungs off as if they were auditioning for Metallica and Led Zeppelin put together.   
Based on the Malayalam film ‘Vellanakalude Nadu’, which was written eons ago, Akshay Kumar plays Sachin Tichkule a road contractor struggling to make it big. He has contracts to build roads all right but has to sell his watch and other accessories to pay the laborers. In the first half there is plenty of silly comedy with Rajpal Yadav doing his usual act.
In the latter, it is all downhill. Mr Tichkule meets his old flame (Trisha) who is the new municipal commissioner and gives ample scope for a dull romance to brew. All the talk about netas and government officers and corruption will cut no ice with the audience that has seen and heard it all before. Okay, the scene where Johnny Lever repairs the road roller was worth a laugh but Priyadarshan’s films badly need a new look. The cast, the setting, the jokes everything looks so very stale, unless you have just landed from mars.
While Manikandan’s cinematography is eye catching, Pritam’s music is passable—Can’t blame him if you have to compose a tune to words like “Tujya Nana chi taang” and “I’m allergic to bullshit”
On the acting front, Trisha is no great shakes. Akshay Kumar does his best act but that’s not enough if the story doesn’t have any meat. So ‘Khatta meetha’ has more of the former and less of the latter. If it is comedy, give me a Tere Bin Laden anyday as compared to this – Afterall, like Akshay in the film, even I am allergic to you know what.