Chalte Chalte

I don't know why, but I get the feeling that a lot of the so-called critics mocking the way Hindi movies are done, are thinking it just isn't right.

I for one have come to accept the whole song and dance routine, the sometimes awful acting and outrageous production. (don't expect the song and dance routines to go away anytime soon guys, the companies make just as much money through their sales, as the movie, if not more than the movie takes in!)

But credit where credit is due. As I am writing this post at an early 4:30 on the 8th sept, the intro screen for the Chalte Chalte DVD is on repeat.

Having just watched (which always seems to make me apprehensive as to what I might be letting myself in for while I put any Hindi movie on) Chalte Chalte, I was totally blown away!

I never thought I was one for Hindi movies (I have a collection of over 400 Hollywood movies) because I believed that they were just silly! but, I have been proved wrong! Shah Rukh Khan is, as usual, fabulous, the story touches on a subject that most Asian families would rather sweep under the mat and put on fake smiles to!

But this is exactly what makes Chalte Chalte a cut above the rest movie, and where, in my opinion, is beginning to show how everything within these movies are progressing to higher levels.

Rani Mukherji has also put in a great performance as the trying to get blood out of a stone wife of SRK.

I would recommend Chalte Chalte to anyone whether you are die hard Hindi fans or not! My perceptions towards Hindi movies have completely changed after watching a string of titles... give it a bit more time, and I'm sure even western movie fans will be singing their praise! :)

I really liked this movie even if it's true in some scenes we feel bored and I think it could be better done.

Yet the songs are really nice. The landscapes also (especially the one in Europe). The story is simple but I think it was the intention of the producer (to produce something which relates the reality).

I give 7/10 to this movie especially for the songs and for the landscapes which take us miles away at least during 3 hours so we forget our problems and daily life to enter in the world of 2 "different" kind of lovers which 2 opposite personalities.

To watch more than one time because really enjoyable songs, musics and landscapes!

ShahRukh Khan has come a long way from the "Bazigar" mold, I mean the gory scenes with histrionics that him dying in his mothers lap. Here he is a Truck driver who stalks a rich Greek born Indian lassie played by the round faced and raspy voiced Rani Mukherjee who is fresh form the throngs of a similar themed movie "Saathiya"; when she replaced Ash Rai. So Rani is in her native domain so to speak and she is even getting good at these roles depicting a newly married with better expectations and duelling to get it. The fast dialog helps to forefront the couple that have time to fight over mundane things that hard working couple would not have time for. The truck driver character fits Sharukh like a Glove, he is more believable than a Lover caught between two women (Devdas). He has flair for few things like when he erupts unexpectedly like a volcano than the emotional pleadings. A good story could be told well without innately intrusive comics and foreign locations, which have become integral part of the Hindi Movies these days. Some of the best movies like "Mr&Mrs Iyer", "Guide", did not have foreign locations or innately intrusive comics. This paranoia that is prevailing among the Filmmakers that the audience is starved for a comedy interludes has to stop. Other than few flaws I enjoyed this movie and one of the few movies I sincerely feel that Sharukh Khan has given his true potential instead of his head shaking histrionics that makes his audience shriek but does nothing to the coffers in the box office nor the audience whose choice and aesthetics is changing and it is changing for the better.

I quite like this film. It seems superficially like Saathiya but is also quite different. Shahrukh plays a self made small time transport business owner and is a very down to earth character. He meets a rich high society girl, played by Rani, and falls for her. He "misplaces" her and then after much searching finds her only to be told she is marrying an old friend in Greece. So off to Greece we go and by the end of the trip she is convinced she loves this man - she never did profess to love her childhood friend. They marry and then the story takes us into an inside look at the marriage between two opposites. Sparks fly, fights are followed by reconciliations until there is an irreconcilable misunderstanding over money and a major rift occurs. She goes off to her family, and he is left to pine... There is an inevitable happy ending, but do things resolve themselves as expected? Not really, and this is where I find Chalte Chalte most endearing. It is quite usual to show "reformed" characters, ideal solutions, in Hindi cinema. Chalte Chalte tells us that in relationships one must accept one's partner for what he or she is and not expect that they will magically be altered or reformed to fit our idealized version.

I found SRK's portrayal of Raj the transport biz owner very authentic. His romancing Priya (Rani) was sweet and never very over the top - yes I even liked the hokey feel of Gumshuda, and Suno Na Suno Na was divine in sound and picturization. The same old romantic dude? Perhaps, but much more vulnerable and real this time around. I liked his drunk act, his trashing the apartment. The one OTT moment was at the airport. Rani was fabulous as Priya, stunning in looks and in her conflicts with Raj. This movie was when I first felt that she was a serious actress. Taube Tumahre yeh Ishare - that was one sweet love ballad. Lillette Dubey was a little OTT but I like her so that was no big deal.

The music was good, and Prem Nagariya reminded me so much of Aisa Des hai mera (Veer Zaara) - but it came before!! Overall - I gave Chalte Chalte an 8 because I liked the story, the music, the acting and most of all the reality that it is hard for human beings to change what is their true nature.

After a long time here is a film which entertains,delights and leaves one gasping at the brilliant acting. There are brief tedious patches when Shahrukh Khan and Rani are not on screen but those are few and far between. The story is very everyday -boy meets girl, falls instantly in love and wooes successfully this girl who is bit out of his world. But the Shahrukh charm is such that one wonders how she could have contemplated even for a week the thought of marrying some other chap even if she knew him from childhood. Delightful wooing scenes, lovely songs, very charming and sexy marriage episodes followed by quarrels. These are so believable that the audience is left gasping at the audacity of the rows. Luckily a happy ending and one is left feeling good and satisfied. I shall be very disappointed if SRK does not win every award for this year's best acting. Cant wait to see other Shahrukh films due this year.