Chennai Express review: Bhakwas or Entertainer

Finally after a lot of waiting and anticipation, one of the biggest movie this year, “Chennai Express” has hit the theaters around the world. “Chennai Express” is a movie by Rohit Shetty, produced under the banner of UTV, with the lead actors Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, which couldn’t be released on a more better time than Eid. The film has been surrounded by much hype and build-up, as it is the first collaboration between Shahrukh Khan and Rohit Shetty. Even with such big names in this movie and major build-up, this movie has failed to impress all the critics, some say it is a total “Bhakwas” film, while others say, it is full of entertainment, a complete entertainer. So it looks like it will be upto the audience to decide whether they find the movie entertaining or not.


“it is the first collaboration between Shahrukh Khan and Rohit Shetty”

The basic plot of “Chennai Express” goes like this, Shahrukh Khan (Rahul), is a 40 year old man, who lives with his grandfather and runs a sweet shop but his own life isn’t so sweet. Rahul’s life is run by his grandfather, but one day his grandfather passed away which opened new opportunities and a great sense of freedom to Rahul because now he could live his life on his own terms. So Rahul wants to start off his carefree vacation fro Goa, but fate has a different future in store for him. On his journey to Goa, he bumps into a Tamil girl, Deepika Padukone (Meena), who has been on the run from her house because her dad wants her to marry against her will. Here Rahul’s life takes a serious U-turn, as always the hero comes to the rescue of the damsel in distress, Rahul ends up going to Chennai with Meena to help her with her problems. Rahul is heading for big trouble because Meena’s father is a don and wants his daughter to marry Tangaballi (Nikitin Dheer) against her will, and somehow Rahul gets entangled into this problem. Instead of having a chilled out holiday at Goa, Rahul ends up having the most bizarre and beautiful experience of his life.


“the hero comes to the rescue of the damsel in distress”

Even without me narrating the movie, I think you all might have already guessed it and we can all agree that there will hardly be any surprise at the climax of the movie. We have seen this kind of movie many many times before in the Bollywood Industry. But this time around even if it is the same old plot, it has the Rohit Shetty twist to it. Rohit Shetty has really made this movie larger than life with few brilliant chase sequences and the action on the final scene is really great. We can all agree that this isn’t some ground breaking movie or a history making movie but we can all be sure that this movie is totally packed with all the masala and entertainment that a Bollywood movie requires.


“this isn’t some ground breaking movie or a history making movie”

Even though the plot of this movie is an age old formula in the Bollywood industry, Rohit Shetty and his script writers have given their own spin to this movie, which tries to generate interest from the audience towards this genre of movies. Some people might find some resemblance with the hit movie “Dilwale Dhulhania Le Jayenge” which also featured Shahrukh Khan. The first half of the movie is a bit slow but it quickly picks up the after the interval, as the love between Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone blossoms. There are many jokes and humorous dialogues and comic scenes in the movie, but it might not be for all viewers because many may not feel that jokes are humorous rather they might feel a bit numb with such slapstick humor. But like we have said before, this is a complete Bollywood masala movie, you don’t need to think a lot or scratch your head while watching this movie, just relax and just enjoy the ride.


“this is a complete Bollywood masala movie, you don’t need to think a lot”

In this movie, it looks like Shahrukh Khan is acting a bit over the top and does not look that impressive, while the dusky actor Deepika Padukone is looking really stunning and her dialogue delivery with the unique Tamil accent is really marvelous. In this movie I surely feel that Deepika Padukone has really outshone Shahrukh Khan, the King Khan himself. The cinematography of this movie is quite impressive by Dudley, while the music by Vishal-Shekhar keeps your foot tapping, but one or two songs could have been left out. But when we see the “Lungi song” at the end of the movie, we can’t help but smile.


“Deepika Padukone has really outshone Shahrukh Khan”

Like I said earlier, this is a full on Rohit Shetty movie, if you have loved his previous work, than your are sure to like this one as well, but for people who like movie with more deep story and plot, they will surely feel that this is a complete “Bhakwas”.
What I would like to say to you all is, don’t listen to what other say, just go to the theater and watch the movie yourself and decide. Let us know what you think about his movie