There are some movies that should never be made. And Chandni Chowk to China is certainly one of them. A terrible attempt at slapstick comedy, it fails to hit even the dart board, forget the bull’s eye!Akshay Kumar is a talented actor no doubt, but even he cannot keep this film from appearing like a toilet roll. As someone rightly commented, there is just too much of comedy, too many gags, too much of nonsensical melodrama and too much of silly action routines. In fact, at a point I even felt it was some stupid spoof of Karate Kid.
The plot, if you must know, is that Sidhu a.k.a. Akshay Kumar is a chef brought up in the lanes of Chandni Chowk, Delhi. He is poor and an orphan. The only support he has is Mithun Chakraborty who is his adopted father. Mithun lets Sidhu run his dhabha.
Yet, Sidhu dreams big and is forever looking at opportunities to change his fortune – from lottery tickets to astrologers, he has tried them all. One day, some Chinese men land up in Delhi and mistake him as their reincarnated leader who will free their oppressed village from the villain, Hojo. (Imagine Zorro in a D-grade movie here, that’s the concept)
So, Sidhu goes to China with his astrologer Chopstick (Ranvir Shorey). Chopstick has convinced Sidhu that they wish to honour him; he does not disclose the fact that the roadside chef has been chosen to kill the mighty Hojo.
Of course, now the bumbling idiot messes up completely and loses his loved one. This anger ultimately leads him to a guru who will teach him Kung-fu, to defeat Hojo. (This sequence is also terribly slapstick…the finesse needed is lacking)
Of course, the end is predictable – but the side sub plots and romantic allusions are quite unnecessary. Yet, the director felt it would be a runaway hit and therefore has kept a “to be continued” sign at the end, wishing that we will want to follow the misadventures of this idiotic character. Well, dear director – try not to waste any more film reel on this one. One disaster is quite enough!
Stars: *
No comments:
Post a Comment