Chocolate: Deep Dark Secrets

I saw director Vivek Agnihotri saying that "this film you can show around the world and proudly say that this is Indian cinema... this film is for intelligent people...". i went to see and i found that its a DUBBED version of Usual Suspect.

after HUM TUM ( harry met sally), salam namaste( nine months)now it is CHOCOLATE (ususal Suspect). i don't understand the logic of these directors...i think Indian government should stop releasing English movies in India so we can feel bollywood movies are original, and we can save our money.

the answer of each director over this is same...its inspired...or ....its just coincident....well chocolate is not inspired it is clone of usual suspect. the director beat Mr. Deepak Tijori (KHAMOSH/IDENTITY). thats what i can say.

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.

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.

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.

Before I begin lashing out against this movie, I want to clarify that I am not fully against "Indianized" remakes of Hollywood movies - if done nicely and with some common sense, they can turn out to be decent affairs.

But Chocolate shamelessly treads the path of being a horrible movie that was blatantly taken piece by piece from a class act such as the Usual Suspects. Kaante had glimpses of other great Hollywood movies, but still had a "characer". Nothing here.

At the end of the movie, I was left wondering - was the director just an extra-ordinary idiot or was it just the outrageous murder of a great movie that left me pulling my own hair and cursing out loud.

Anil Kapoor - who is a brilliant actor, mind you - was totally wasted in the movie. Ditto for Irfan Khan - who has given some great performances in the past. Arshad Warsi is usually a delight to watch - but not here sirs! The only person for whom this piece of trash suits is Emran Hashmi - who was his terrible self in the movie.

Simply avoid this at all costs - you will be doing yourself a big favor.