Film: 'Short Kut - The Con Is On'; Director: Neeraj Vora; Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Arshad Warsi, Amrita Rao; Rating: *

'Short Kut' was not a bad film to begin with. It was probably a terrific idea for a comedy of misguided zeal - a hammy actor, Arshad Warsi, stealing a struggling scriptwriter Akshaye Khanna's great plot and becoming a superstar.

But in the absence of motivated mirth, the comedy just plunges out of control and is navigated entirely by the comic capabilities of Arshad Warsi.

Arshad plays that nightmare of every entertainment industry... He can effortlessly go over the top while hamming.

'Short Kut' was probably an idea that got lost in translation. There are signs of sparkle that fizzle out as the film progresses. Where we expect a torrent of laughter we get a drizzle of mild humour.

Some interludes are no doubt funny...like when during shooting 'superstar' Arshad keeps messing up his line, a cute assistant director finally rolls down by his feet and mumbles the lines in understudied sarcasm.

Where are more such moments in this melee of misapprehended mirth? Where are the satirical jibes at the workings of the Indian film industry that would have elevated the comedy into more than what it finally is? A truncated travesty with very little to recommend except some tongue-in-cheek digs at the cult of megalomaniacal stardom.