Saturday, June 10, 2006

Chup Chup ke - 2.5 stars


I saw Chup Chup ke yesterday. Even with my currently relaxed standards of Hindi film criticism, I found it a bit of a pain to sit through.

Parts are funny - Rajpal Yadav outshines Paresh Rawal by a mile and then some. But like Priyadarshan's 'Hulchul', much of the humour is loud and hammy. And film after film with the tolerable-but-nothing-fantastic Shahid Kapur-Kareena Kapoor jodi is hard to take.

The story in very brief: Jeet (Shahid Kapur) is a young man who's managed to rack up a debt of 13 lakhs 90 thousand to set up one failed business after another. To escape from his creditors, he jumps into the ocean - saying that his insurance policy should take care of their outstanding dues.

As luck would have it, he gets caught in a fisherman's net in Kolkata. Gundeya (Paresh Rawal) and Bandeya (Rajpal Yadav) take him to the hospital, discover the chit in his pocket with names of creditors. They think these folks owe him 13 lakhs 90 thousand and decide to help the fella recover the debts, hoping to claim a few lakhs for themselves.

Jeet pretends to be deaf and dumb - and some fairly funny scenes follow. Due to reasons too silly and yet too complicated to go into, Jeet and sidekick Bandeya end up at the house of a Gujarati family headed by Om Puri as servants.

This weird family enjoys kushti as much it enjoys its dadndiya and dhoklas. They also have so many clothes to wash that Rajpal Yadav remarks,"Idhar kitne log rehte hain? Ise zilla kyun nahin declare kar dete?"

It's one liners like this which made me chuckle, more than the situational comedy.

In this mad Gujarati family there's Kareena, an asli ki goongi girl, whose marriage was called off at the last moment. Her shaadi ka mandap is still standing, as brother Mangal Singh (Sunil Shetty ) has vowed it will be removed only when he finds another suitable boy for her.

I won't elaborate anymore, coz you can guess what ultimately happens. After several minor and major twists and turns, you have the Shahid-Kareena 'romance' (although it seems more like a 'cool way to get out of debt', if you ask me).

There is a creature called Pooja - Jeet's erstwhile fiancee - wailing in white over her 'dead' husband back in the village. But since that character is played by Sushma Reddy, you know how the film is going to end.

I guess what really turned me off the film is the feudal kind of family set up and how women are portrayed.

Whether it's Pooja or Kareena, both are just sitting there waiting for some guy to come and agree to marry them. I mean even Jeet's sister - who we get a very small glimpse of - is referred to as 'shaadi nahin hui hai, umar nikal gayi, ghar par baithi hai'.

Of course, it's Bollywood so stereotypes are unavoidable. But still.

The other problem is Priyadarshan films are not out and out comedy. They're comedy mixed with emotional speeches, tears and chest-beating. Some of this is in a comic vein, some serious. That does not quite work for me.

Of the actors, Rajpal Yadav is brilliant. Rest are ok. Sunil Shetty is saaaad! And oh, Kareena does not regain her voice at the end of the film - which means she is silent throughout.

That may be music to some ears because all the songs - except the one which is being played in the promos - don't qualify as music at all!

Wonder how this film compares to Phir Hera Pheri which was also released yesterday. Strangely both films have almost the same star cast and similar plots. In fact, the writer of Chup Chup ke is actually the director of Phir Hera Pheri.

I have a feeling, though, that Phir Hera Pheri is better.

Chup Chup ke gets 2.5 stars from me. The extra half star is only for Rajpal Yadav.

And on a parting note, can we please get over the use of people pretending to be deaf, dumb or blind in the name of comedy?

18 comments:

  1. By the story line i feel that the movie is a copy of the Malayalam Super hit " Punjabi House". priyadarshan have the hobby of copying the themes of hit malayalam movies. Even hera pheri is a copy cat.

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  2. nice review!! that the movie has Kareena Shahid itself is reason enuf to not go!

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  3. Hey Rashmi, why don't you also tell us the readers sometimes that what are the circumstances under which you have to go and watch movies like Chupke Chupke? :)

    That might be interesting to know as well!

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  4. hey rashmi... i admire your patience to even blog about this movie... ;)... i think its high time u did an expose of people like priyadarshan who blatantly copy beautiful regional scripts and convert them to horrendous hindi movies with unbearable actors...

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  5. The movie is a bad cut-copy-paste of a malayalam movie. Its high time our directors realize that what sells in one state neednt necessarily do so elsewhere. This is because of the difference in life-styles and also the difference in perspectives. And well, most of the remakes are from movies made 20 years ago! Here's something for the directors who get inspired by other movies- " Nothing sells like the original".

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  6. @Harish: Yes, your guess is right! Well done!

    @How do we know: Yeah the review was nice, but look at the choice of the movie. Chupke Chupke?? Eh!

    @Suraj: Thanks for confirming Harish's hunch. And we all know that Shahid looks childish. What were you trying to swallow by the way?

    @Sam: "to even blog about the movie" :) You speak my words! So true!

    @Babbar Sher: The best comment so far! This logic made me rethink about my opinion on Chupke Chupke.

    @Maveric: Period!

    @Grain Saint: good career move if you planning to join JAM.

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  7. d movie sucks actually!

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  8. you can't even compare this movie to it's absolutely funnier original malayalam version.

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  10. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  11. The movie, as said, was a damp squib.. The mallu version was quite better... Ofcourse sans rajpal yadav... :(

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  12. hmm... sounds like a nice attempt of a comedy... i m plannin to go for this movie next weekend.. respect.. loner...

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  13. I agree with you completely (I blogged a review of it too).

    And imagine how it is on my side of the globe, spending Rs. 400 to see this flic!

    Filmiholic
    http://filmiholic.com

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  14. i think it deserves an extra star - solely due to the fact that Kareena doesn't get to open her mouth in the film!

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  15. Rashmi jee,

    Whats wrong.. 4 stars to fanaa?!!! Everyone has trashed the movie badly, and the sheroshayri was pathetic. Earlier Upen Patel in pink tight pants. !!!
    And now this !!

    Aap please standards relax na kijiye.

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  16. Indian orthodox Brahmins & their Upper Caste slaves Present All Over Indian System Will Never Allow the Development of the Rest Indians i.e OBC/SC/ST/Rest Whose Population Is Over 85% of India - Come What May ! B/c Brahmins/their Slaves -- Don't Even Consider OBC/SC/ST/ REST INDIANS - Humans ! So :------

    The Permanent Solution I Think Is that :- Divide India Into Small Nations On Caste Lines, E.g. One Country For Brahmins, One for Upper Castes, One for OBC/SC/ST/ Rest -- On the Basis of Population of the Caste. Every Caste Will Have 100% Reservation In their Respective Country -- So No Fighting Any More & All Will Develop. A Non Indian High Power Commission of United Nations should be Formed Under ChairManShip of It's Chief Koffi Anan --- to Divid India Into Small Nations on Caste Lines , & to Maintain Impartiality, In Light of Historical Facts of Over 3000yrs, With No India In High Power Commission to Avoid Partiality. B/c In Present India Brahmins & Upper Castes Manage to Corners All Resources Meant for All Indians (OBC/SC/ST/REST INDIANS)- that's Why Brahmins/Upper Castes are Happy In Present India. OBC/SC/ST/Rest are Not Socially & Educationally Backward By - Choice - BUT - B/c Brahmins & their Slaves In Power have Kept them So - By Force & Conspiracy Since Over 3000yrs Particularly 1947 Onwards !

    ----- Let's Face the India's Ground Level Realities/Truths the Way they Are & Go For the Final Solution that Is Once & For All !!!

    --- So Rashmi Bansal & Rest People Who are Regular on this Blog, What's Your Reaction ???

    --- Non-Brahman Hindu ! SEE My Blog = www.zanjeer.blogspot.com TO know Why I'm Forced to Say So ! By For NOW !!!

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  17. Rashmi: Please put comment censorship on your blog for some time and spare yourself the obvious spam!
    Its sad to see your blog attacked like this..

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  18. Any movie based on a situations would have comic and emotional elements to it. So how can u have an out and out comedy. Then Priyadarsan will be same as David Dhawan.
    If you look at Priyadarsans Malayalam movies they are master blends of people faced in difficult situations and their reactions to it which are humourous.
    For commercial success in Hindi cinema, he needs to keep dumbing down and he has probably hit the right mix after a few false starts. He has in fact stopped remaking his Malayalam movies in Hindi. What he remakes now are movies by other directors which could appeal to the relatively dumber Hindi masses.
    Anyways such depth of analysis cant be expected from someone who give Fanaa a four star.

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