Chocolate: Deep Dark Secrets

My wife rented this movie from the local Desi video store (of course it was bootlegged) and I caught bits and pieces of it while she was watching but what caught my attention was right at the end as all was being revealed. I noticed how it was all lifter directly from "The Usual Suspects" and so I asked her to describe the plot to me in as much detail as possible. Her description was exactly the plot in The Usual Suspects. She said it was probably coincidence so to prove it, I had her play the ending scene for Chocolate and then I played the ending on my laptop side by side and lo-and behold, it was identical. It's really disheartening to see Indian movies that are exact copies of Hollywood movies and don't even give credit to the original. People who have not seen the original will tout this as a wonderful movie but those of us who know better see it for what it is, a complete rip off of a wonderful movie.

This terrible movie was made in 2005 n i put up a review in 2022 and it gets reported n deleted. That means fascist fanboys are at it again.

Burn pigs burn.

I saw this in 2005 in a theatre. This cannot be called a poor man's Usual Suspects cos it is a terrible movie with appalling direction.

I can't fathom how Emraan Hashmi, Arshad Warsi, Sunil Shetty n Irfan Khan agreed for this atrocious movie.

Did they not kno that it is a copy of Usual Suspects. Were they not aware of the pathetic director's behavior towards female actors. Abysmal copy of Usual Suspects.

The best part of this movie i the way it captures London in winter...not just the buildings but the spirit manages to enter the frame !! The movie is inspired from usual suspects with the hot scene of basic instinct thrown in for good measure... It is difficult to believe 20 billion pounds being transferred with no escort cars !!! but this movie wants you to believe that apart from a lot of stories with holes more than any pound of swiss cheese will have !!! Tanushree Dutta sure has it to make it big., hope she makes some good career choices...Irrfan, Arshad, Emraan( for a change no kisses !!) all OK, Anil simply doesn't know what over the top acting is all about... Sushma makes a debut rather late in her career and unless many of her scenes are in editing floor, it is rather a sad debut... The redeeming feature is the ending where it differs from usual suspects and the ending is actually a happy one at that !! 3 out of 5...

Please turn off the logical/critical part of your brain and you'll be ready to enjoy the movie. Compared to usual Bollywood standards, this is a slick flick with respect to editing, cinematography, sound, etc.

Of course, the "Usual Suspects" story has been adapted to suit current events with plenty of vague references to Al Qaeda thrown in, but don't watch the movie for the story. Watch it to while away a lazy Sunday afternoon, when you can't go out, and don't feel like reading a book.

Irfaan Khan should have been cast as Rocker. Sunil Shetty didn't look scary enough. Arshad Warsi did much better than his past roles. Tanushree Dutta is certainly one to look out for. A few more acting classes might help. Lastly, Sushma Reddy's role as an almost caricature-ish sidekick to Krishna Pandit didn't do justice to her talents. She will certainly do better to pick meatier roles.

Innumerable movies have been copied and perhaps "Chocolate" qualifies for the worst when it comes to adapting for Bollywood. For starters, the story line is loaded with complexity. Added to it are the sub-plots which are far too many and should have been trimmed down to aid the comprehension of the Bollywood audience. And the non-linear progression adds to the woes. There are too many unwarranted "sex" references (read that "force-fit"). Basing the London was a bad idea.

Performance wise Anil Kapoor delivers a strong screen-presence. Next is Arshad Warsi. Tanushree Dutta attempts hard to display her "oomph". Emran Hashmi hardly leaves an impact. Sunil Shetty was extremely wooden. Irfan Khan is perhaps the worst considering the expectations that would arise when his name is associated with the project. Sushma Reddy is awful on both department, choice of costumes and acting.

I was amused to the opening credits stating "Inspired Films" presents. I suppose "Plagiarised Films" would more more apt.