- Date of Release: 16 January 2026
- Genre: Black Comedy
- Language: Hindi
- Watch On: Theatres Only
Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos
Introduction
In a famous standup (infamous for some because..😂) , Vir Das had claimed on how he comes from 2 Indias. In many ways, the new Hindi film Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos flaunts this thought of his, particularly in times when being a spy is cool and being an alpha male is toxically cooler! Happy Patel unfolds like one of those latest trending instagram reels that go by the title – 1st Day as Spy In Pakistan, with the song of Dhurandhar ‘Aandhi Banke Aaya Hun’ playing out before the spies meet their fate by the end of the reel. Vir Das retains the goofiness of the setting while replacing Pakistan with India – almost positioning himself as an outsider with a fake British accent. At this point, I recalled another meme – India is not for beginners, something that made me chuckle, particularly in a scene wherein you see Happy opting for a rearguard action of holding on to his bargaining price against an inexorbitant amount charged by the cabbie. It is a specific case of a niche that Vir Das is committed to exploring, whilst completely going on the cross-cultural path of irreverence in the most unapologetic brain-rot comedy ever since Badass Ravikumar (2025).
Story & Screenplay
Written by Vir Das and Amogh Ranadive, the tone of its unhinged comedy is evident in a crazy opening sequence that starts with a shootout and ends in absurdity. In between, you are a witness to a bullet-laden Goan Don (a hilarious Aamir Khan) that barely makes it home and is about to die, only to be interrupted and snapped at by his wife for not getting sausages home that he had previously promised her. Elsewhere, you see a servant dying in the arms of a couple of British agents, leaving behind her newborn for them to take care of. Immediately, the writing reverses the notion of perception – your ‘supposed’ alpha-male character has died, and (unhinged) empathy has won the day. And I say unhinged because one of the British agents tells his dying servant that he cannot give her a Diwali bonus at the moment because Diwali is three months away! Damn right – Hilarious😂!
The character of Happy Patel (Vir Das) in many ways remains a distant cousin of the mumbling spy Johnny English. He has failed his spy exams, lives with his two good-natured secret agents in the UK, and has hidden culinary skills that are even more anti-spy like. I mean which spy can cook, right? Where are the guns when you need one! And yet, such is the nature of the drama that he is sent to Goa as an undercover spy to retrieve a kidnapped English dermatologist from the shackles of a female don named Mama (Mona Singh) – someone who wishes to end the post Independence British colonialism by launching a fairness cream of her own! And Mama also has a thing for cooking cutlets – almost like the annual corporate appraisals – wherein the good chores are gifted with the ‘tasty’ ones, and the bad chores are gifted with the ‘deadly’ ones. Yes, absolute power has a different meaning here, even though ‘both names in power’ start with the letter ‘M’. In Panjor (Goa), Mama equates to ‘Mumkim’ (I-‘M’-Possible).Â
The self-aware tone of the drama is very evident here, even as a character mutters on how the rest of the film will be in ‘Hindi’ – given how the first 15 minutes had a lot of English lines. The Bollywood references remain a talking point for Happy too, even as he is trained into opening his arms like Shahrukh Khan – something that his Laal-Singh-Chaddha coded colleague Geet (Sharib Hashmi) from Panjor refers to as ‘Daddy’ – while the two exchange information through coded tea-slurps. And such is the humour that is cooked here – with Happy often using his soon-to-be-sliced pinky finger to taste the ‘gravy’ of the drama.
You can sense that the undercurrents of the mad-hatter humour in the narrative has traces of the trademark Vir Das comedy. Everytime the protagonist mistakes the word ‘Tum’ for ‘Tom’, a random ‘Tom’ appears out of nowhere. Elsewhere, there is a ‘Garam Masala’ induced fight in place while the song ‘Balam Pitchkari’ plays on. In another scene, you see two ‘familiar’ chatacters crossing paths in mid-air with the song ‘DK Bose’ connecting the dots. In another scene, you see the protagonist claiming on how difficult it is to get a table at a hotel that houses just one table, and its elderly waiter (having an OnlyFans page of his) being so slow with the delivery that he gets their coffee after five days. You have to see it to believe it!
The absurdity also extends to some of the characters here – Happy’s love interest Rupa (Mithila Palkar; another passing Laal Singh Chaddha reference) who is a terrible dancer but an epitome of feminism given how she slaps involuntarily when the protagonist tries to hold her hand. The ‘Chantaa Tera’ song marks a symbol of love mixed with absurdity here. You also have three cops/secret agents who give high-fives after spelling out an information, a guinea-pig of a character used for the testing of Mama’s fairness cream who randomly gets shot in his foot quite often, a famous Chef and a famous singer/actor who make their appearance in a hilarious final act that offers a hilarious cook-off, followed by a ‘Bollywood Choreographed’ fight face-off (involving a combination of thrusts and footsie ballet) – a call-back to Happy’s Bollywoodized spy training.
Amidst the chaos, you see references of Swades (2004) in the narrative, even as the song ‘Yeh Jo Des Hai Mera’ is replaced with ‘Main Hindustaani’. Even the chidiya reference is an allegory of the state of affairs today, hilariously induced in a faint political subtext that remains….well faint just like the hopes of a revival😂 (notice the population being flashed between two cities). The Sholay-esque scene of Panjor also faintly boasts of themes of unity and standing upto the oppression served by the two ‘M & M’s – being Mama in the drama, and the other being the one who must not be named, in reality😅. It is well thought out but also unapologetic in many ways.
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are snappy and quirky with right bouts of indifferent humour being sprinkled at regular instances. Even when the jokes don’t land, the lines quickly recover and move onto the next gag, thereby narrowing the gap between two ‘lull’ instances (and pay attention to the subtitles too which are on a trip of their own). The music absolutely nails the mood of the drama, with every song playing out as an extension of the absurdity unfolding onscreen. The BGM compliments the silliness of the drama by brilliantly complimenting the mood of the drama. The cinematography owns the hilarious tone set by the writing with wacky additions – in a scene, you see a character sweeping the floor in the middle of a shootout. The wackiness is definitely represented through the frames too.
The editing pattern is crisp and sharp, something that papers over periods when the laughter dries up. The fast edits don’t allow you space to think while recalibrating your brain to the next gag. Directors Vir Das and Kavi Shastri keep the momentum going without stalling at any point. There is an unabashed and unhinged virtue on which this comedy is mounted on, and the makers fully exhibit it – going all out at every instance as opposed to slowly things down and reflecting on the ‘mess’. The self-aware tone is a part of their armoury even while allowing their characters to have a ball, and the automatically transcends beyond the screen.
Performances
The performances are brilliant here wherein every character is seen having a ball. The starry cameos by Aamir Khan, Imran Khan, Sanjeev Kapoor, Sumukhi Suresh and Meiyang Chang are downright hilarious, and each of them buy into the idea of surrendering to the absurdity of the world created by the makers. Ashwin Mushran as the Instructor who trains Happy is unconventionally funny given his amount of seriousness and intensity that invariably results in laughter. A good tip for budding actors there who can learn from Ashwin – Never go for laughs in a scene because seriousness will get you bigger laughs! Madhura Joshi as Devne, Bageshri Joshirao as Gawde and Tirrtha Murbaadkar as Godbole add bouts of quirkiness and texture to the drama with their Konkani-Marathi induced lines. Brian Nathan as Tom has a sporadically regular appearance through the film, and his presence was often met with lasting bouts of laughter. Ellie Flory Fawcett as Jhonson, Jemima Dunn as Mary, Sharvari Deshpande as Flavia, Benedict Garrett as Kenneth Mole (lol, notice the name😂), Maya Rachel Mcmanus as Beatrice, and Hella Stichlmair are downright hilarious with their respective acts, and each of them have their moments to shine.
Bachchan Pachera as Suresh Kaka, the elderly waiter who has an OnlyFans account is hilariously to the core. Andrew Sloman as Roger and Simon Feilder as Sebastian are sincere and earnest while using poker expressions to contribute to the comedy in the film. Marvell D’souza as Gomez, Mayank Parakh as Peter and Vishwanath Kulkarni as Sailesh have their moments to shine, as do Amit Bhandari, Ambuj Anand and Nilesh Gaware as Rickson, Dickson and Carlton respectively.
Sharib Hashmi as Geet is wonderful to witness here in a Laal Singh Chaddha coded avatar. His tea-slurping exchanges with Happy are absolutely hilarious, something that had me laughing all the way. Srushti Tawade as Roxy has a geeky persona while never losing sight of the inherent quirks in her character. Mithila Palkar as Rupa manages to hold her own while forming a subtext of feminism through her character’s mannerisms. She was a treat to watch here. Also, the image of her character squeezing an orange on her elbow hasn’t left me since😅. Mona Singh in a-never-before-seen-avatar as Mama is clearly having a ball here with her calm but quirky demeanor, and some insane amount of humour exuded from her restraint. Her poker-faced approach is delectable, and that becomes her perfect recipe to infuse some unhinged humour in the narrative.
Vir Das is my hero – and he has been for a while now. From standups to acting gigs to now Happy Patel, his metamorphosis is incredible. And one of the huge reasons for the film to work is his unhinged commitment to the character. Yes, the humour doesn’t always land but Vir never drops the ball, flexing his control over the genre in severe moments of madness. I could also make out that the proceedings were anchored by him in many ways, finding some method to the madness without which the film could have sunk (and sunk badly). And so, Happy Patel belongs to him – a resounding reminder of the power of laughter and satire in times when the world is divisive and violence-coded. More power to you Vir – you have nailed it here!
Conclusion
Boasting of brilliant performances, Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos features an in-form Vir Das who ch**ts (shoots) for the stars in this zany and bril-l**d (brilliant) mad-hatter comedy that is hilarious to the core. And while the brand of humour explored makes the film a niche, it had me probably laughing the most in a theatre since Badass Ravikumar. In other words – I still feel ticklish, while my cheeks have been hurting since last night! Available in a theatre near you and Highly Recommended!