My Friend Pinto Dvd

My Friend Pinto is a 2011 Indian musical comedy film written and directed by Raaghav Dar, in his feature-length directorial debut. It stars Prateik Babbar as Michael Pinto, a well intentioned simpleton and follows his misadventures over the course of a New Year’s Eve in Mumbai. Produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Ronnie Screwvala, and distributed by UTV Motion Pictures, it has elements of picaresque, slapstick comedy and multiple musical sequences. The film features Kalki Koechlin, Arjun Mathur, Shruti Seth, Makrand Deshpande, Raj Zutshi and Divya Dutta in supporting roles.

Although Dar had written the script while working as an assistant director on Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na (2008), it was not until he met Bhansali that he began working on a proper screenplay. Conceived as a musical comedy, My Friend Pinto had multiple sequences choreographed by Longinus Fernandes, featuring Babbar and Koechlin primarily. Principal photography was done over a period of two and a half years in South Mumbai, mostly during night. The film’s soundtrack and background score was composed by the music director duo of Ajay and Atul Gogavale.

My Friend Pinto released theatrically on 14 October 2011 to mixed response from film critics. While the performances of majority of the cast were favourably reviewed, the film drew criticism for its scattered screenplay and the several underdeveloped subplots. At the box-office, it collected a total of ₹18 million (US$250,000) in its entire theatrical run against the production costs of approximately ₹90 million (US$1.3 million). The film was released on DVD in February 2012.

Plot

Michael Pinto (Babbar) is a well-intentioned simpleton born and brought up in a small Goan village. His world revolves around his doting mother and his passion for music. After his mother’s sudden death, he decides to become a priest to fulfill her last wish. Before attending school, he plans to visit his childhood friend Sameer (Mathur) in Mumbai. At a train station, Michael unknowingly disrupts a meeting between Maggie (Koechlin), an aspiring dancer who instantly attracts his attention, and a crook who intends to sell her to a pimp in Delhi. Michael is left alone at Sameer and his wife Suhani’s (Seth) apartment when they leave for a party.

Michael accidentally locks himself out in the apartment’s balcony. He escapes through a nearby drainage pipe, but ends up in a music shop, where he encounters a local Don (Deshpande), who is impressed by Michael’s musical talent. The Don heads a disorganised criminal organisation, which is responsible for a recent kidnapping. His assistant Mac (Zutshi) plans to assassinate him to take over his position, and blackmails two of the Don’s most loyal henchmen: Ajay and Vijay (Amin and Karim Hajee), into doing the job.

While stuck in traffic, Sameer and Suhani contemplate their relationship problems, which are mainly triggered by Suhani’s workaholic nature and close relationship with her boss, Venky (Bhatt). Michael, meanwhile, continues to wander the streets of Mumbai: over the course of the night, he rescues a stray dog and helps a gambler (Khan) win money to pay off his debts, only to have his wallet stolen soon after. He later spots Maggie on the top of a building, presumably attempting a suicide, and comes to her rescue. He finds out that she was supposed to leave for Delhi with an agent who had promised to help her become a dancer (unaware of the man’s true intentions). Michael, who is enamoured with Maggie’s personality and charm tries to cheer her up and the two dance together in the rain. She tells him that she ran away from her house because her mother, despite being a dancer herself, was against her taking up the profession. In return, he tells her about his only dream, which is to be a good son. Maggie gives Michael her phone number before leaving.

Michael gets in an accident with a drunken female driver, Reshma (Dutta), a yesteryear actress and the Don’s girlfriend. He offers her a ride home, which she accepts. At her home Reshma explains to him, in drunken stupor, that she suspects the Don of infidelity. The Don arrives at the house to declare his love for Reshma. Michael meanwhile daydreams about Maggie, while playing a guitar in the backyard. The Don invites him to his party, where Michael comes across Sameer and Suhani and everyone else that he had encountered over the night. He also briefly reunites with Maggie, who is performing at the party. She is taken hostage and put into a deep freeze refrigerator, alongside a dead body that Ajay and Vijay had been carrying around all night, as she overhears Mac’s plan to assassinate the Don. Unable to bring themselves to terms with killing their boss, Ajay and Vijay free Maggie and later surrender to the police.

Meanwhile, the Don invites Michael onto the stage for a performance, and the latter obliges. Suhani berates Venky as he makes a pass at her and reconciles with Sameer. Michael sabotages Mac’s plan to kill the Don, and ends his performance with a huge applause from the audience. Michael re-unites with Suhani and Sameer. As Michael glances across the crowd, he finds a smiling Maggie walking towards him and smiles back at her.

Cast

The cast is listed below:

Prateik Babbar as Michael Pinto
Kalki Koechlin as Maggie
Arjun Mathur as Sameer
Shruti Seth as Suhani
Makrand Deshpande as Don
Raj Zutshi as Mac
Divya Dutta as Reshma
Shakeel Khan
Adhir Bhatt as Venky
Amin Hajee as Ajay
Karim Hajee as Vijay
Aseem Hattangady as Bhargava
Faisal Rashid as Abhay
Surendra Rajan as Omar Chacha
Arjun Dhanraj as Nakul
Shikha Talsania as Neha
Milind Joshi as Father Simon
Meet Mukhi as Little Michael Pinto