Crew is the story of three air hostesses. Geeta Sethi (Tabu), Jasmine Kohli (Kareena Kapoor Khan) and Divya Rana (Kriti Sanon) work as air hostesses for Kohinoor Airways, run by Vijay Walia (Saswata Chatterjee). The trio and 4000 other employees haven’t been paid for 6 months. Geeta stays with her husband Arun (Kapil Sharma) in a modest home after they had to sacrifice their riches in a family feud. Jasmine lives with her maternal grandfather (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) after losing her parents at a young age. She learned very early in life that money can buy anything. Divya, meanwhile, has learnt to fly a plane. Due to the recession, she failed to find the job of a pilot though she told her family that she has got one. All three already had a money crunch and the non-payment of salary adds to their woes. One day, while flying to Al Burj, their senior Rajvanshi (Rammakant Daayama) dies all of a sudden. While trying to give him CPR, they find gold biscuits attached to his vest. They get tempted to steal the biscuits but they don’t. The plane returns to Mumbai airport where the customs official turns out to be Jaiveer (Diljit Dosanjh), an old friend of Divya. Meanwhile, the news channels have been regularly reporting that Kohinoor Airways is going through a financial crisis. Vijay Walia, however, rubbishes the reports and assures his staff that their dues will be cleared. But one day, the HR of Kohinoor and an old friend of Geeta, Mittal (Rajesh Sharma), blurts out to her that Kohinoor Airways is indeed bankrupt. Realizing that they will never get their salaries ever, the trio decides to start smuggling gold biscuits like Rajvanshi. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Review:
Nishi Mehra and Mehul Suri’s story is entertaining. The screenplay is swift and packs in a lot. The writing, however, gets very convenient in the second half. The dialogues are sharp but could have been funnier.
Rajesh Krishnan’s direction is fine. He keeps the mood of the film very light and this ensures that the film appeals to all sections of the audience. The back-and-forth narrative adds to the intrigue value, meanwhile. The introduction of characters is done in style and sets the mood. The best, however, is reserved for the climax when the trio decide to teach baddies a lesson. The performances of all three actresses are spot-on.
On the flipside, the humour is very limited in the film. Secondly, the director, in order to keep the run time in check, often rushes into things. As a result, the audience doesn’t get time to process the goings-on. Also, the manner in which the trio is able to get out of any problem quite easily gets unconvincing after a point.
On the whole, CREW is a fun entertainer and rests on the fine performances of Tabu, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Kriti Sanon.