Movies are supposed to make you think. Joe B Carvalho makes you ponder on a singular question: ‘why?’ Why would a script so inane come to be made into a film?
And why would an actor with the considerable talent of Arshad Warsi come to be in it? The terribly unfunny comedy has jokes and punch lines (repeated a few times) so crass that you might punch someone for uttering them even once.
“Maut, potty aur Carlos kabhi bhi aa sakte hain” is the patent line of a cross-dressing, lollypop-sucking, gangster played by Jaaved Jaaferi. The man seems to have a knack for picking the dumbest roles (he played the ridiculous hawala king Bheem Singh in Besharam last year).
But what made Arshad Warsi say yes seems confounding. Surely, the lure of a lead role couldn’t be enticing enough for someone with the reputation of an intelligent actor (thanks to the Munna Bhai series and films like Ishqiya). He plays the titular detective Joe B Carvalho, the name providing just another opportunity for a cheap gag. He plays a bit of an idiot with a good heart, who sports cheap costumes and dances to bad choreography.
The plot comprises of a comedy of errors where a silly love affair get mixed up with a sillier terrorist plot. In between, there are more sad jokes (“I’m pulling”. “When did I see you’re stree ling?”), bad songs and what looks suspiciously like a half-baked reference to a scene from Psycho.
Watch this then at your own peril.