Chennai Express

My review: Chennai Express

 One is the biggest superstar of Bollywood while the other is the most sought after director who has given three 100 crore movies on the trot. What happens when they decide to do a movie together. "Chennai Express" is the answer. How good is the answer is for all to decide but whatever the result is, it is not original (one might ask which Rohit Shetty movie is..??!!). 

Scenes blatantly copied (which some hypocrites may christine it as "Tributes", Bulshit...!! ) from Tamil movies "Muthu", "Ghilli", "Alexpandian" to name a few. Most asinine of lines which are supposed to make the audience laugh (which many did, wonder what might be their IQ levels..!) like "I am from Punjab", "Which part ?" , " Whole body"...or the reply of SRK to Sathyaraj's "Unaku Tamil Theri'ma ?? " which one gets to watch every week in the comedy circus. (Since Rohit Shetty is a judge of the show he must be unconsciously gotten inspired by the performers in that show). 

Slipping on the grass by SRK, weird somniloquist attempt by Deepika (which is an amalgam of "Chandramukhi" Jothika and "Anjali" Baby Shamili :P) or exchange of messages through hindi songs (which was really comical the first time but when it gets repeated often it gets irritating) are things which are supposed to tickle one to laugh out loud which does happen for they were many people who seem to have come determined to laugh at anything that they come across today no matter how infantile it may be. 

Movie miss out not only in logic (any how if you look for logic in a Rohit Shetty movie then you must get tested  first ) but what about the geographical landscape. It was really laughable when the famous Dhood Sagar falls is passed off as the railway station of the Heroine's village. Many parts of Karnataka and Kerala are passed of as Tamil Nadu. 

Language is another casualty. Someone was credited as "Tamil dialogue trainer/supervisor"  but he must have been on grass while they were filming the movie I guess. When there are numerous talented voice artists around why should the makers make us endure the torture of non-Tamils trying to murder the language. It is really funny and at the same time irritating to hear Nikitin Dheer mouth Tamil dialogues many of which are in now redundant chaste Tamil. Deepika mishmashes Tamil,  Hindi and English all with weird accent. When she says that she will teach Tamil to SRK one does shirk in the seat with irony but the wretched result of the same when it appears in the climax when SRK tries his hand (mouth rather) on Tamil one can't but help the profanities from coming out of one's mouth. Why does she has that constipated look when she speaks in Hindi by the way..???

What made Sathyaraj sign this movie is anyone's guess. A cartoonish caricature, he too gets boringly repetitive with "ennamma kannu" routine of his. 

Movie is at times comical, very next scene it turns serious, then gets slapstick followed by a scene which works out more as a spoof which is again followed by a sentiment scene. The writers clearly have lost focus in what they were writing which in no way saved by the lousy direction. All of a sudden hero is in the international waters gets caught by police as a refugee, and in next scene he does this "Ghilli" impersonation. Clearly overdose of dopamine at work.   

Redeeming aspects of the movie (apart from the nice air-conditioned cooling in this dreadful Chennai heat, and hoards of good looking lasses around ) are Dudley's cinematography and Vishal-Sekhar's music (only songs mind you, their background score is very ordinary ). The video and audio of "Titli" and "Kashmir main tu Kanyakumari" are worth the 20% of the money spent. Rest of the money is what SRK does to his "daadaa's" ashes. 

Leave aside the logical, linguistic, geopolitical and ethnographic inaccuracies and insensitivities. Even otherwise "Chennai Express" is a pathetic movie lousily made. It is strictly for those pea-brained juveniles who are game for cheap jokes and (like SRK says in the movie ) "single screen humour". 

Bottomline: Survived 2 1/2 hours surrounded by 500+ imbeciles and a migraine. 

2/5