Bollywood often relies on star aura and known heroes’ charisma to pull a film together. Going by that, the team behind the comedy Fukrey (loosely translated as losers or nobodies) are in serious trouble. Collectively, actors Richa Chadda, Pulkit Samrat, Varun Sharma, Manjot Singh and Ali Fazal have as much personality as discarded pieces of furniture. The lads are no dream boats, the girl isn’t beautiful in the traditional sense and together they aren’t charming or witty enough to make an informal press conference especially riveting. But what makes them endearing is that they are playing that setback to their advantage. After all, they form the backbone of a film about four losers with dreams of making quick money. “I proud to be Fukrey in India,” declared actor Ali Fazal in broken English at a press conference for the film in Dubai last Sunday. It’s a line from his comedy Fukrey, releasing in the UAE this Thursday. As if on cue, the others chant: “we are all proud to be fukrey”.

It isn’t just their grammar that needs correction. The tale of four under-achievers draws heavily upon their ability to be slackers born to working parents. In the film, Choocha, played by Sharma, has a tendency to dream about weird stuff. Hunny, played by Samrat, interprets those dreams the next day and comes up with numbers for lottery betting. The two meet another pair when their betting gets out of hand. “I wanted faces with no baggage attached to them to make it believable” said director Mrighdeep Singh Lamba. Bollywood blockbusters are often dictated by a star persona, but directors often lament that Bollywood’s beefy heroes — Salman Khan or the divine-looking Hrithik Roshan — can’t look poor or unclean beyond a point. Their omnipresent image overrides the characters they play on screen. But with a clutch of unknowns, it’s easier to mould them, claims Lamba.