Ready Steady Po - Chennai Express review

At first was not very eager to pen down a review but later too many hatred updates on FB and too much dirt dumped on the movie and few who decided to rant till their last breath on their walls , few who even said that people are getting entertained by this movie and hence our country has gone to dogs made me write this. This mediocre movie gained more and more publicity only due to the haters and increased my fire of desire to write some thing ! so here it is.

Originally published at - http://theviewspaper.net/chennai-express-a-review/

Too many hatred reviews finally pushed me to write this. With the tag ready steady po Chennai express did justice to the title as it is about a 40 year old man who boards the wrong train bluffing his grandma but story takes a sudden twist and makes him travel to the pretty damsel Meenamma's village where her dad is a renowned Don. Now everyone knows the story line. Thanks to the never ending trailers. The story is like a mix mash of many hit south Indian movies with a dash of humour and pinch of spice. It is a typical Rohit Shetty movie where if you put your best efforts to find logic you will stay disheartened. Yep this is definitely slap stick humour which will not suit you if you want to watch Cinema which has brains, logic and sense.  The director makes the viewers taste the southern flavour with the sufficient knowledge he has and shows it in vibrant colours. The scenic southern locations are fresh and relieving to watch. 

It truly is come fall in love Rohit shetty style. You realise this when Deepika runs to catch the train and after that Shahrukh lends a helping hand even to all the goons who are running to catch the train. The back ground score of Chennai Express and the train episode and parody songs will definitely bring smiles. Deepika's broken Tamil accent is bad which sounds like a comic character is speaking all the while. Nevertheless she compensated it with her acting. Yep, she has come a long way from being the expressionless dimpled beauty to someone who can flash the dimple only when needed.

Deepika plays the role of a rebellious, charming South Indian damsel who can show more valour than Rahul aka Shahrukh who is fun at 40 but behaves like scared cat. SRK trolls himself by throwing satires on his cinematic Rahul moments which is definitely funny unless until you passionately hate him. Deepika's dialogues add to the humour quotient once in a while. The song Titli by Chinmayee and South Indian traditions showed post intermission do add more colour to the movie. Audiences whistled at 1,2,3,4 where Priyamani spiced it up. After many item songs which are exactly copied from south this song feels new and fresh! The ending song which is a tribute to Rajani Kanth created controversies that it is cheap and insulting but I saw that many South Indians actually enjoyed the song and smiled their way back to home. I still don't get why a lungi is being considered as cheap and insulting. Are there no item songs in Bollywood with more cheap lyrics where many other things are highlighted? The critics have to answer this!

Chennai Express is definitely a masala movie for masses. SRK pulls the crowds to theatres and fans will enjoy seeing him in a different shade this time. This is an in and out Rohit Shetty's genre experimented with SRK this time which worked for me.  SathyaRaj was a natural as Deepika’s dad. The villain role Thangaballi played by Nikitin Dheer who reminds you of the gigantic Khali best suited the role and leaves you in splits when he sings Chammak Challo. Yes the comedy is mindless but it won’t hurt to laugh when you feel like laughing. Laughter is the best therapy. I am not sure why many are criticising the comedy in the movie. It for sure is more laughable than few films like Ajab Prem ki Gazab Kahani or some other superstars’ sequels and prequels and poorly imitated Rowdy Rathore.

Now coming to few loopholes in the movie, there was too much Tamil to crack for. People who don’t understand the language will feel out of place even if Meenamma translates to some extent. A South Indian doesn’t necessarily speak in Meenamma’s accent. The aati , jaati usage was too repetitive. The chase scenes and blowing up of jeeps seemed force fitted. The climax fight scene with ThangaBalli was too long and unnecessary for the storyline.  The pace of the movie could have been better. It is not needed to run every movie for 2 hours 15min.

Lastly Rohit Shetty knows how to tickle the funny bone and if you enjoyed Golmaal you will enjoy this too. It’s good to watch the movie with friends and share the guffaws. Even if you want to grade him unworthy of his success he surely has the Midas touch and may earn 100 Crores. Compared to Bol bachan and other recent flicks by him Chennai Express is far better. Boarding the train for a fun ride will definitely not harm. If your humour quotient is above all this then you can’t laugh even if you tickle yourself. So if you can’t have fun sit at home and ignore rather than triggering the gun and taking pleasure in pointing at temples of the movie makers and viewers who can enjoy it.

By

Afshan Shaik