Release Date: August 08, 2013
Star-Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Nikitin Dheer, Priyamani, Sathyaraj.
Director: Rohit Shetty
Music Director: Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani.
Producers: Gauri Khan, Karim Morani, Ronnie Screwvala, Siddharth Roy Kapur.
Genre: Action/Comedy
Star-Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Nikitin Dheer, Priyamani, Sathyaraj.
Director: Rohit Shetty
Music Director: Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani.
Producers: Gauri Khan, Karim Morani, Ronnie Screwvala, Siddharth Roy Kapur.
Genre: Action/Comedy
Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan) has been entrusted the task of going to Rameshwaram with the ashes of his deceased grandfather. He, high on his new found freedom, dodges it to take a trip to Goa with his friends.
Fate plays its twists in such a way that he ends up reaching South by getting entrapped with a girl, Meena (Deepika Padukone) who is running from her imposing father. The two take the Chennai Express and begin the journey that changes their lives forever! They relentlessly try to ‘elope’ but everytime circumstances fail them and they land up in deeper trouble with each stint. Running from the girl’s father – a don, and an angry notorious fiance called Tangaballi, watch them fall in love in the most uncanny and bizarre ways possible! This one is SRK doing his DDLJ work with a twist of Tamil tadka in it as the romance initiated travels through the road of trouble! This isn’t the 90s anymore and falling in love needs quite a lot of toiling now!
SRK still does his DDLJ train scene with the same grace, and it still looks just as endearing. Once again this Rohit Shetty film depends strongly on ridiculous humor. Borrowing the clash of North-South, the fight of cultures will remind of Chetan Bhagat’s 2 States for most of its witty part.
The action of the film is something that stenches of typical Rohit Shetty flavor. It is not bad just regular with cars flying in the air and windscreens smashing. It arises quite an unsettling feeling as it is disturbingly follows the same pattern with a mere seasoning of Tamil tadka on it.
Expect no extraordinary mojo as the film is in keeping with previous films of Shetty that defies logic and reason. A word of advice for SRK – you indeed have greater potential than resorting to such scummy ways of entertaining.
I wasn’t expecting cinematic brilliance or a sprinkling of classic feel, hence I allowed myself to laugh at the desperate comedy that felt like an overstretched joke! Go await for the film to oblige you with laughable content. If you aren’t finicky like me about films, this one could be quite a captivating entertainer.
Star Performances
Deepika essays her role with immense confidence and delight almost to make you reminiscent of her last screen outing with SRK. This film emphatically recounts how she has traversed a long way from her amateurish acting in Om Shanti Om. She doesn’t bend under pressure of an obviously magnanimous co-actor rather carves for herself a delightful and entertaining space to compliment Shah Rukh. With a perfect diction and correct comic timing, she gives a delicious crackling feat to savor as Meenamma!
Deepika essays her role with immense confidence and delight almost to make you reminiscent of her last screen outing with SRK. This film emphatically recounts how she has traversed a long way from her amateurish acting in Om Shanti Om. She doesn’t bend under pressure of an obviously magnanimous co-actor rather carves for herself a delightful and entertaining space to compliment Shah Rukh. With a perfect diction and correct comic timing, she gives a delicious crackling feat to savor as Meenamma!
King Khan remains King Khan for a reason and he doesn’t disappoint. As Rahul he is befitting as ever. He romances with the same charm as always even trying his hand at action which isn’t really his forte. His inspired performance and marvelous chemistry with Deepika is what keeps you glued through the film’s sagging, repetitive bits.
Nikitin Dheer is robust but hardly has a role enough to perform. His chiseled body is quite a pretty sight but that’s all for him.
Technical front:
Rohit Shetty is someone who swears by gags and corny jokes, and for audiences who are tired of their morose, mundane lives, Shetty offers to them a few hours of constant laughter. He makes Chennai Express revel in ridiculousness and has a superstar crack jokes that are certainly beneath him. But he succeeds in his mission to entertain simply because of his actors who add marvel to his second rate jokes. Perhaps the best part of the film is when Meena and Rahul communicate through Hindi songs; it is the only place where the screenplay reflects imaginative quality, surprisingly!
Rohit Shetty is someone who swears by gags and corny jokes, and for audiences who are tired of their morose, mundane lives, Shetty offers to them a few hours of constant laughter. He makes Chennai Express revel in ridiculousness and has a superstar crack jokes that are certainly beneath him. But he succeeds in his mission to entertain simply because of his actors who add marvel to his second rate jokes. Perhaps the best part of the film is when Meena and Rahul communicate through Hindi songs; it is the only place where the screenplay reflects imaginative quality, surprisingly!
The film’s melodrama wears you out in the second half mostly because of its sketchy editing. The music of Vishal-Shekhar is dull compared to their caliber.
For most part, Rohit presumes you to be without logic and its best if you are without it. You are sure to have an enjoyable time.
Positive: There is a clever humor, a few really genuine laughs and a man whose charm doesn’t wear out – SRK.
Negative: Being acquainted with Rohit Shetty’s brand of cinema, expect silliness and labored gags
Verdict: vanakkam… please visit once..Go with your family and have a good time!
13 August 2013 at 11:00
Chennai Express running at the speed of Rajdhani train. 100cr in 3 days - awesome! Deepika looked too cute and acted beautifully. I will see this movie again only becoz of her.