Chandni Chowk to China


The first mega-budget movie of the year – starring Akshay Kumar & Deepika Padukone - promos everywhere. So what are you expecting from the movie ?

You are probably expecting an action-comedy movie, with Ranvir Shorey adding to the comedy department …. and a sizzling romance between Akshay & Deepika. But what you get is something very different – a love story ….. between Akshay & Mithun Chakraborty !!!

But before you get your hopes up, its nowhere as funny as Dostana! It’s instead a weepy, sad romance … doomed for separation.
Ok, so Mithun plays the father figure. But Akshay definitely gets loads of emotional screentime with Mithun and zero with his leading lady. With Deepika, this is what you get ....

[After working on his forearms for two weeks with something called Iron Forearm technique … which actually resembles the roti making action]
Akshay (standing with Deepika in his arms) : I have Iron Forearms now. Jaldi hi mere paas honge Iron Legs, Iron Chest, Iron Stomach, … (pauses and looks down towards you-know-what) … aur ek Iron …
Deepika (coyly covering her face) : Bas
Akshay : Ab mujhe mat roko. Mera poora body Lohe ka ho gaya hai ...
Deepika (fluttering her eyelids) : Oh, mere Iron man …

Want more ? He calls her lovingly as his ‘aloo paratha’ – infact CC2C had more than its share of potatoes !! There is a Ganesha shaped aloo in his hand almost throughout the movie. Deepika is his aloo paratha. And then in the climax, he begins to see aloos in his enemies …

Honestly, I cant decide what exactly to say about the story. It’s a combination of some four movies. Let me list them – Singh is Kinng, Kung Fu Panda, Chaalbaaz and a ‘Ajay Devgan’ movie called Jigar :) Add the 4 movies up cleverly and you have the entire story …. the resemblance to Singh is Kinng is especially striking, probably because it wasn’t released too far back. The same country bumpkin (Akshay Kumar) going international with his (comparatively) smarter sidekick, falling in love at first sight with extremely pretty ladies, songs at historical locations (Pyramids in Egypt/Great Wall in China) … you will feel déjà vu throughout the movie.

I am not going to say anything more on the story, except that its EXTREMELY BORING and humourless in the first half. Till intermission, it seems like its going to be the biggest flop of 2009. Thankfully, it picks up significantly in the second half of the movie. The sequences with the hindi-speaking-beggar and the kung-fu training are the best part of the movie. Akshay Kumar is right in his element here. Deepika looks ravishing throughout the movie – she looks especially cute in the Chinese silk dresses. And the make-up artists have done a commendable job in differentiating the twins – Meow Meow (the Chinese twin) actually looks almost Oriental ! Deepika doesn’t have much of role(s) to act, so she is ok as far as acting is concerned. But I thought she was looking the best so far in this movie – almost lighting up the screen with her smile.

Ranvir Shorey was a disappointment though – his acting was quite flat, even in the opening sequences. Mention must also be made of the soundtrack of the movie – Kailash Kher and partners manage to provide a most lament-filled soundtrack – the hindi word ‘rondu’ being apt. Except the title track, which is quite sprightly and appears early in the movie, the rest of the soundtrack REALLY makes you weep … in frustration. Quite disappointing. And didn’t wait around for the rap song at the end, so cant comment on that one.

Now the most important question – how does the movie fare on the whole ? Does it disappoint like Singh is Kinng? Well ….. not as much as Singh is Kinng, but disappointing nevertheless. As I have highlighted in the beginning, CC2C is expected to be an action-comedy. Instead, you will find a whole lot of sentimental melodrama (unhelpfully accompanied by Kailash Kher in the background) …. and it is a complete downer. Nikhil Advani has lost the plot midway into a movie yet again.

However, given that we are talking about Akshay Kumar and the droll and boring Singh is Kinng became a superhit, I wouldn’t be surprised if CC2C also did good business - especially since it’s a notch or two better than that sardar caper.


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