Chance Pe Dance

Well, the storyline is a little cliché, but they made it quite entertaining. To me, it seems to tell the story of anyone who wants to be an actor whether it is in India or in Los Angeles. It has cute girls and boys. And the dance is good, the music is pumped up with energy.

Too bad, not many people have seen it. If this movie was made by Hollywood, it could have been very popular, because it has all the elements.

Shahid Kapur doesn't look like those Indians I typically see, he looks like a mix, he could easily be mistaken as Italian, Hispanic, etc. His dance moves are good, he has a nice body. No wonder he is so popular in India.

I won't mind watching it again just to see those dance sequences.

Well it seems like Dance movies are the rage these days, and this week alone we have two films that seemingly centers on dance, with Jump coming from China/Hong Kong, and Chance Pe Dance from Bollywood, both being romantic comedies appealing to their respective distinct demographics. And it's not too surprising that unlike dance films of old where there's a male-female pair who would exhibit some signature moves on the dance floor, the contemporary films this week have absolutely none of that, which in some ways is a pity.

Chance Pe Dance follows recent Bollywood films such as Luck Pe Chance in having their characters lament about the open secret of their film industry, where one has to be well connected, or come from an influential family in the industry in order to have one's big break served on a silver platter. For the rest of the mortals aspiring for that opportunity, it's more hard work, toil and sweat in order to get noticed, otherwise it's an endless cycle of mundane work to pay the bills, and juggling auditions in between.

Shahid Kapur plays one such struggler from Delhi, Sameer Behl, who has spent the last 3 plus years trawling the audition houses of Mumbai in order to find work in the film industry. Living under meagre terms, he gets disappointed time and again, which is pretty much against the way he was brought up to believe that his good looks and charisma automatically meant he'd be the hero in his life, all the time. The narrative takes a very whirlwind snapshot of Sameer's life, highlighting his debts and being played out by both his best friend as well as filmmakers who promise him the sky, but never hesitant to pull the rug from under his feet.

The story tries to jam pack too many subplots into the film, which makes you wonder whether this is a dance film if at all. First of all, there's the school days arc, where in order to sustain his city living, Sameer takes up a teaching job, imparting his dance skills to pesky children (he's never good with them) in order to help them win their dance competition. The key message here is of course if one couldn't do anything with one's current lifetime, there's always the imparting of skills to the next generation for them to live the dream that we have missed out on. This story arc could have been better fleshed out, other than to be squeezed into the film just before the intermission, and then resolved right after the film resumes.

Then there's the continuation of Sameer's own struggle, where he has to learn never to give up because a life-changing opportunity may just be around the corner. In what would be like an American Idol clone of a dance/idol contest, this story too wasn't fleshed out properly and we're taken in for quite the fast tracking from the competition's start, right to the finale, with nary any tension due to the lack of competitive characters, and the larger culprit being the lack of dance (it's chance pe dance after all, right?)

But the largest waste here was the under utilization of the character Tina, played by Genelia D'Souza, a choreographer whom Sameer serendipitously meets, and falls in love with. The character reminded me of Asin's Kalpana from Ghajini, the free-spirited, strong girl who teaches a thing or two to her guy about what it means by being resilient. I thought Genelia looked like Asin too from certain angles, and possessed the same vivacity here as well, together with some really stunning dance moves that we would see at the start of the film, with so much promise that when the lead duo gets paired together, sparks will fly and magic will happen. But it didn't! If there's anything to rue about, it's precisely this missed opportunity to have the duo perform a lot more dance numbers than one which quite sedately celebrates their love for each other, by mucking around exotic locales.

For a dance movie, I wouldn't doubt that Bollywood cannot pull one off, given the musical like quality in almost all of the films, but it's a real pity that Chance Pe Dance is not that film. Thankfully the leads have charisma and share pitch perfect chemistry together, which managed to carry the film through from start to end, limited dance moves notwithstanding.

"Everyone Deserves A CHANCE !!" with this view I entered the theatre. To my expectations I found this movie up-to-the-mark.

This movie builds an Environment as if we are ourselves in the movie. Storyline is quite touching having a long-lasting impact on viewers. The movie depicts the struggle of the current generation whose talents are suppressed by the influential personalities.We all being a part of this system can feel it ourselves. The movie is a family-entertainer and has hilarious comedy sequences.

Ken Ghosh has done a great job on his part. This movie is certainly better than his Directorial debut and creates a milestone in his Career. Acting by Shahid, Genelia and Mohnish Behl(despite his short appearance)were great. Dancing talent of Shahid is an eye-candy to the viewers. "Pal mein hi" song enraptures the audience. To sum up this movie is a great entertainer and also gives a great social message. Finallly this movie is a worth watching with numerous memorable moments(especially the South Indian ad by Shahid)so go watch the movie with your family!!

To cut it straight as everyone knows the movie didn't get good reviews but take my word the movie is not as bad as people think.. Loads of struggler movies have been made and you have heard the same story over and over again but where lies the difference?? The answer is the moments!! Yes watch for its moments and the passion which Shahid injects into the role...

Ken Ghosh who set the box office on fire with his Ishq Vishq this time slips due to his not-so-new script.. The only thing which earned the movie some respect was Shahid's unmatched performance! His dance sequences are superb and choreographed by Marty Kudelka who has choreographed stars like Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson.. The irony is that despite having four music directors in the movie the music is not so great and you don't even remember the count of the songs after you watch the movie!!

Genelia as usual is OK! Parikshat Sahni is the new Dad of Bollywood and Mohnish Behl was satisfactory and the children of his dance class were surprisingly charming!! But the standout performance was from Shahid whose struggling act and honest expressions make you smile!!

If you wondering what to extract from this review then watch the movie for its fun moments and of course Shahid and his dance.. It will make you smile!!

Please give this movie a chance. It is really worth watching at least once. Shahid acting is superb. Genelia is looking stunning as always and acting is good too. Please give this movie a chance. Shahid and Genelia have great chemistry in this film. I was surprised that this film would turn out to be this good. Story is really good and its different. Genelia's acting is too good. I think she should do more Hindi films too along with south films. I wish and pray for her that she gets more offers for Hindi films even after marriage and two kids. Shahid has grown in acting really well. He has done superb acting in this film. Please go ahead and give this movie a try, that is all i am asking.