CHENNAI EXPRESS ("DERAILED")

August 8, 2013

Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Sathyaraj.

Director: Rohit Shetty.

His recent films might have made money at the box office, but Shahrukh Khan has been trying hard of late to work his magic like he did during the 90s and early parts of 2000. Chennai Express is his latest attempt at regaining that.

Rahul(Shahrukh) who stays with grandparents is forced to go to Rameswaram by his grandma to perform the last rites of his late grandfather. But he plans to go to Goa instead, with his friends. He gets into Chennai express just to fool his grandma planning to get down at the next station where his friends are waiting for him. After a small slip, just as he is about to get down from the train, Meenamma (Deepika) who is trying to run away from her marriage to Thangabali comes dashing towards the train with a few goons chasing her,(you have a few DDLJ moments there) and Rahul gets trapped.

Some scenes inside the train are nice and creative and you will have a few laughs. The film then moves to Southern India, Komban in Tamilnadu to be exact, from where Meenamma hails. Once Chennai Express reaches Komban, Meenamma’s father Periya Thala (Sathyaraj) who is the local don makes a grand entry. Meenamma cooks up a story telling that she is in love with Rahul.

Rohit Shetty sets up a perfect plot till now for bringing on his usual comedy filled with confusion which is considered to be his forte. But very soon afterwards the signs of things fizzling out get apparent and the waywardness of the script and the director starts to show.

Apart from being incomplete in a lot of aspects the screenplay tries really hard to make you laugh but it’s sad that it has nothing new or funny rather to make that happen. If the idea of an entertainer is a lotta deafening and senseless BGM, unnecessary songs, villains shouting regularly and some really stupid “so called” tamil dialogues, then it would bode well for Rohit Shetty to rethink his strategy.

Almost all the emotions and relationships are so half baked that they leave no effect on the audience. This is perhaps a conscious decision to make the film fast paced, but the sad fact is that the end product ends up being neither.

Shahrukh plays the part written for him well but it is Deepika who outperforms him most of the time. This is not to mean that Deepika is excellent, considering the horrible and unforgiveable accent with which she mouths her dialogues in Tamil. Most of the Tamilians are sure to fume at the way Tamil has been slaughtered!! It can be called a big time blunder casting Deepika for this role when someone like Asin would have been the perfect choice.

Bringing in Kerala art (&martial art) forms like Kathakali, Theyyam and Kalaripayattu, whether intentional or otherwise, is another blunder that hits the audience right on their faces. After all the energy draining scenes with the usual Rohit Shetty “Shtyle” fights you have a “so called” emotional scene where Rahul gets all preachy and touchy. Though intended as a touching scene this could be one of the scenes where you will burst out laughing mainly because of the naive dialogues and silly execution.

When you are finally getting ready to run away from the theatre there is a climax fight where Rahul braces upto Thangabali after beating the hell out of a number of goons which is downright silly and beyond credibility. The only relief is the Lungi Dance song that comes after the credits roll out. It would do well for you to wait for that to get a minimum worth for your time and money.

I am giving a 1.25 for Chennai Express. Barring a few scenes It would bore you to death!

Rating Scale (Out of 5)

Less than 2                   -           Unwatchable.

2    to 2.25                   -           Below average.

2.5 to 2.75                   -           Average.

       

3    to 3.25                   -           Good.

3.5 to 3.75                   -           Really Good.

4    to 4.25                   -           Great.

4.5 and above               -          Extraordinary.