Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Geeta Sethi, Jasmine Kohli and Divya Rana are all air-hostesses with Kohinoor airlines, which hasn’t been paying its employees salaries for six months, causing them a lot of financial distress. So, when the women find out about a gold-smuggling racket running right under their nose via their flights, they decide to profit from it too, but trouble brews when custom officials become suspicious of their activities!
Directed by Rajesh A Krishnan, the 2024 movie “Crew,” starring Kareena Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, and Tabu, has been written by Nidhi Mehra and Mehul Suri, the duo who co-wrote the buddy comedy “Veere Di Wedding.” As soon as the movie begins, the comical drama sets the tone for its primary conflict as Geeta (Tabu), Divya (Kriti Sanon), and Jasmine (Kareena Kapoor) are summoned for questioning over gold smuggling. The characters quickly introduce themselves, each one a world apart from the others.
Tabu is entertaining as the hard-working senior air hostess Geeta Sethi, who dreams of opening a hotel with her husband and is pinning her hopes on getting PF money from the airline. Kareena Kapoor plays a vivacious variant of her usual onscreen personas – the bubbly, ambitious Jasmine who loves living it up and often resorts to petty stealing to fund what she wants. Then there’s Kriti Sanon (last seen in Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya) as Divya Rana, who is trained to be a pilot but, due to lack of jobs, is forced to become an air hostess.
The onscreen camaraderie between the leading ladies of “Crew” is its best feature. Their banter captures the essence of fun female friendships, and the diverse ages of the characters bring a refreshing dynamic to the Bollywood film. While Kareena and Tabu’s character have a more peer-like relationships, Kriti Sanon is endearing as their nervous junior, who refers to Tabu as “Sethi ma’am”. And despite being a largely formulaic heist-comedy, which often defies logic to make its plot twists work, “Crew” manages to maintain a fun tone for most of its runtime. I was just thinking how it’s so much better than Kevin Hart’s “Lift”, which is also a mid-air heist film, but absurdly far-fetched and totally underwhelming.
Throughout the 2-hour runtime of “Crew”, Geeta, Jasmine, and Divya are almost always dressed to kill. In fact, for air hostesses who are struggling with money, they look a little too fabulously dressed all the time. But hey, logic isn’t the strong suit of this film. You are supposed to put your seatbelts on, sit back, and let the writers take you on a no-brainer, entertaining ride. A catchy soundtrack, with two groovy remixes of already popular songs – “Choli Ke Peechey Kya Hai” and “Sona Kitna Sona Hai” – really works well to make the comedic proceedings engrossing. Diljit Dosanjh, who plays a customs officer named Jaiveer in “Crew,” also performs an original melodious song called “Naina,” featuring a rap by Badshah, which has a very “Tareefa” vibe.
After the one-hour mark, the pace of “Crew” dips a bit, making you wonder how they will keep things engaging. However, after 10-15 minutes of slower, meandering moments, the plot picks up pace again. Saswata Chatterjee is hilarious in his small cameo as Vijay Walia, the owner of Kohinoor Airlines, modeled after Vijay Mallya, the billionaire fugitive whose Kingfisher Airlines went bust, leaving hundreds of staff and crew members in the lurch. The script light-heartedly explores the divide between wealthy employers and middle-class employees, while the second half packs in a few serious moments, highlighting how the malpractices of corrupt business owners detrimentally impact the lives of their workers.
Working, partying, shopping, and even a bit of blackmailing and smuggling —Geeta Sethi, Jasmine Kohli, and Divya Rana’s work friendship goes far beyond the regular duties of an air hostess, and the women keep audiences amused with their shenanigans until the end of “Crew”. The last few minutes of the climax are predictable, a tad chaotic, and not as funny as they could’ve been, but things end on a celebratory note, where the “criminals” sort of make amends for their crimes and get away with more than they would’ve bargained for. Watch if you’re up for a women-led buddy comedy with a heist twist.
You can stream “Crew” on Netflix.
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