Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost opens up with the background narration from Amitabh Bachchan about an Indian village that has just received electricity for the first time. The scene shows a group of villagers, holding lanterns in the darkness, celebrating in jubilation after a bulb lights up and their village gets electricity.
The focus shifts to a young man named Kanji (Abhishek) who is on his way to his village after staying in the city for 10 years. He is shown sitting on the roof of an overcrowded bus, covered in a blanket, kohl-lined eyes peering intensely at the camera.
He is carrying a gift for the villagers - a television set and a dish antenna. The simple folks in village have never seen a TV in their entire lives and when Kanji connects the TV and switches it on, villagers are awestruck and overwhelmed.
While villagers stay glued to magical television set, Kanji roams the village along with his childhood pal Surya (Aditya Lakhia). He also comes across a beautiful belle named Kesar aka KC (Lara) and falls for her at the first sight.
Unknowingly, Kanji sparks a wave of development in the village. But not everybody likes him. Among them is village's Thakur (Yashpal Sharma). Differences arise and eventually the hero has to fight the battle against the baddies to finally excel.
Interestingly, a television camera crew that arrives at the spot records this battle.
Movie's director Apoorva Lakhia has assisted some of the biggest names in Hollywood, and has been associated with the Academy Award nominated Lagaan. In fact, there are many sequences in Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost that look cinematically similar to the ones in Lagaan.
Although Lakhia has opted for a refreshingly different plot with a rural setting and has been able to create a believable atmosphere with his technique and cinematic sense, the film's story loses its track time and again.
Even the comedy in the film showing villagers attempting to ape what they see on television in their real lives does not evoke any laughs.
Abhishek Bachchan looks quite rustic in the movie with his unkempt hair and darned clothes, but the actor is often seen hamming when it comes to emotionally intense scenes. But for a limited set of facial expressions, one hardly gets to see anything from Abhi.
On the other hand, Lara Dutta comes to notice with her act as a village girl who falls in love with shaher ka Babu.
Other actors like Aditya (who enjoys a good amount of footage in the film), Yashpal Sharma, Dayashankar Pandey and Akhilendra Mishra, who were so unforgettable as Lakha, Goli and Arjan in Lagaan, are all given to poor acting in this film.
Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost begins on an interesting note but starts to drag in the later reels of the first half. The movie again gathers pace in the second half, but the climax of the story lacks the punch that Lagaan had.
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