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Made In China Review: Rajkummar, Mouni star in a feature rich, promising story that offers no guarantee
Made In China Movie Review: A weak script and lacklustre attempt from all corners deliver a highly mediocre cinematic experience.
Made in China
Made in China Director: Mikhil Musale
Made in China Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Mouni Roy, Paresh Rawal, Boman Irani, Gajraj Rao, Sumeet Vyas, Amyra Dastur, Manoj Joshi
Made in China Stars: 2/5
Sex education and awareness seem to be one of the formulas that have clicked with Indian film writers lately. Recently Sonakshi Sinha starrer Khandani Shafakhana tried to discuss the taboo subject of sexual diseases, while Shubh Mangal Savadhan received rave reviews for taking a humorous take on erectile dysfunction and performance anxiety.
Similarly, the industry loves to portray an entrepreneur’s struggle to find a successful venture by hook or crook. From Guru to Rocket Singh, there are several scripts which have delivered what they promised – entertainment. Made in China is about all of this, but entertainment.
Raghuveer (Rajkummar Rao) is an aspiring Gujarati entrepreneur who is about to reach his wit's end at finding a successful idea. A string of failed ventures results in Raghuveer getting questioned about his business acumen. The pressure on him is even more as his father (Manoj Joshi) and brother-in-law (Sumit Vyas) are fairly successful. His only source of inspiration is Chopra (Gajraj Rao), a businessman whose videos offer a masterclass in business and management strategy. Coerced by his wife Rukmini Mehta (Mouni Roy) and family, he joins his brother-in-law for a business visit to China. Here, he meets Tanmay Shah (Paresh Rawal), who declines his brother-in-law’s idea but becomes faintly fond of Raghuveer. Consequently, he offers a crash course in customer psychology and business strategy to Raghuveer. 
Raghuveer stumbles upon a great idea: Aphrodisiac made from tiger’s genitals. One thing leads to another, and Raghuveer accosts sex-and relationship-columnist Dr Vardhi (Boman Irani) to be the front of his quackery. What happens next is a guess of any ardent Indian film fan. Families get affected, police and officials get involved. Yet, through the film, one keeps getting this urge to ask: Is that all you have to offer?
When you have a cast encompassing Rajkumar Rao, Paresh Rawal, Boman Irani and Gajraj Rao, you prepare the audience to come to the theatres with a high expectation. Alas, a weak script and lacklustre attempt from all corners deliver a highly mediocre cinematic experience.
Rajkumar Rao and Paresh Rawal try to weave in chemistry through their scenes. Rajkumar is no novice to play a Gujarati and has proved it earlier in Kai Po Che. He delivers in this film as well without clinging on stereotypical character interpretations. Boman in the initial scenes is unmissable, but soon owing to a weak screenplay falls prey to repetition. Sumeet Vyas makes a genuine attempt to leave a mark, while Gajraj has been wasted as a token villain. Mouni Roy hasn’t been offered much but even then she fails to convince you that her character is a Gujarati, and Amyra Dastur whizzes past the audience without them skipping a beat.
The climax makes a dramatic deliverance of the core theme: Why sex education and awareness is important in our country. Undoubtedly, discussing sex and population is important but making it the only objective of the script becomes the biggest flaw of the film. As a bargain, the art of ‘show, don’t tell’ is traded for injecting humour. There is a scene that will remind you of Chatur from 3 Idiots, making you wonder if the scene was written in as an ode to the scene or if it was just an ‘inspiration’. Similarly, there are dashes of nationalism thrown in which misses the mark by miles.
In brevity, Made in China is a film that could have been promising purely based on acting prowess of the cast. The screenplay and direction, albeit take it downhill. Thirty minutes into the film, and you already feel like the customer who got duped by the salesman of a China-made low budget feature phone – there is a lot to choose from, yet nothing worth showing-off.
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