A copy, but entertaining

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Bring all the dancers you know together and play some mundane hip-hop club music and you can be assured of plenty of locking and popping happening on the dance floor. But I guess that’s not enough to make a film. So, you rip-off the entire script of a popular film (the obvious choice would be a Hollywood flick), add a few random characters (who have no past and reasons behind why they are so random) and what you get is F.A.L.T.U.

The film obviously has nothing original in it — be it the characters, the situations, or the issues they challenge, and worse the dance moves (weren’t we over with that chicken dance!).
But luckily for debutant director Remo D’Souza, the problems end there and as the film progresses you find yourself liking it, albeit with some guilt. And the guilt is more overpowering if you happen to have seen the original Accepted (2006) directed by Steve Pink, from which the makers have shamelessly ripped off the script of F.A.L.T.U and without giving any credit to the original screenplay writers.
The film explores the marks-obsessed side of the Indian education system, which believes a student is worth nothing if s/he can’t score more than 70 per cent. It talks of the plight of the teenagers who fail to get admission in colleges because of low marks and those who do, are often living someone else’s dream.
Jackky Bhagnani has given his best performance ever as the below average student, Riteish, who starts a fake university to avoid his father’s kabadiwala business and get him off his back. But what was just an idea on paper has to be turned into reality because his father wants to see the college — and thus comes in Arshad Warsi who’s character is named Google, and has the ability to get anything done and his services are available 24x7. Riteish Deshmukh as Bajirao is the new principal of this fake university called Fakirchand and Lakeerchand Technical University and hence the name (F.A.L.T.U).
Now, if you have already seen Accepted, then you already know what the rest of the story is about and might want to leave the theatre. But the dance numbers, music and the fun-liners (with a complementary background score) keep you interested.
Boman Irani in his short role as a BMC school principal continues the magic of a college professor from 3 Idiots. Angad Bedi and Pooja Gupta have given an overall good performance, but the surprise element of the film is Chandan Roy Sanyal who plays the role of a nerd-gone-wild with complete ease. Every actor has done a wonderful job but throughout the film you are disappointed that you don’t get to know anything about their past or understand why are they are like that.
There’s plenty of dancing and singing throughout the film, but the best comes during the climax of the film, where director Remo has played with the black light to prove why he is one of the most popular choreographers in the country. But at the same time, call it his dancing instincts Remo always seems to be rushing to reach the end.
The film successfully conveys the message that education is not just about a college degree but also about following one’s own ambitions and that too without getting preachy about it.