Expresso de Chennai

Since the days of Chak De India, judging his grace & his stupendous acting skills, I am a huge fan of Shah Rukh Khan. A man of substance, he shows his skills in every film through his strong dialogue delivery & a firm grip over the emotional phenomena of the film. Every film he does, he makes it new for his audience & that is what makes him a stand-out actor.

Just few hours back, I caught up with his new film released today 'Chennai Express' directed by the Singham & Golmaal director Rohit Shetty, co-starring Deepika Padukone. It showed the King of Romance in a dynamic never-seen-before avatar & some fun-rolled laughter & Rohit Shetty style action.

Not much of surprise, the film touches all the genres of Bollywood completing a circle of entertainment. The film is the mixture of both: humour as well as some serious action. Frankly, I only liked Shetty for Golmaal & Singham. I found that mostly his films lacked sensibility & displayed some mindless insensitive action. But the fact that Shah Rukh Khan is starring in it made me really look into Chennai Express. Because as far as I know SRK, he is one of intelligent brains in Bollywood & knows completely well what he is up to.

Not deviating from Chennai Express, I would like to tell about the plot. The story is about Rahul, a 40 year unmarried man, who lives with his grandparents in Mumbai. After his grandfather's death, Rahul embarks on a journey to Goa but a series of confusions & misunderstanding, he finds himself in Chennai Express, a train that brings a big turn in the life of Rahul leading him to the place where he is destined to be.

Frustrated of his misfortune about not being able to go to Goa, Rahul meets Meenama, a South Indian girl from Kumban village in Chennai. She happens to be the pivotal part of the film that changes the monotony of Rahul's life. Rahul witnesses the ticket checker of the train being thrown in the waters from running train by the Tamil goons who happen to have kidnapped Meenama, thus being the only witness to the incident. Rahul is plunged into the world where he is being pestered, troubled & led into some humorous mishap. Shetty has depicted all of this in funny way that audience find themselves having the best time of their lives.

Chennai Express is sheer entertainment with fun-filled comedy all over. There is action, romance & humour throughout the film. It will leave smiles on everyone's faces when they leave the theatre. It is very impressive and unlike all Rohit Shetty films, it has the powerful element of emotion, the element which Indian directors use to uplift their standard of cinema. The songs are combination of foot-tapping numbers as well as some melodiously extravagant songs. If you have caught up with all Rohit Shetty films, this one you will be the most satisfied with. The first time collaboration of Rohit Shetty- SRK duo will undoubtedly set the box office registers ringing.

Just returned home after watching first show of CE. first half is superb, SRK impresses with his comic role, makes u remember his movies like bad shah, duplicate. There are almost no songs in first half, which is great. Problems comes in second half, typical Bollywood problem, song after song. It makes the film drag. For first half i will give 4.5 out of 5 stars and for second half 2.5 out of 5. I don't think this movie will have repeat audience like 3 idiots. But people will definitely enjoy it at least once. My only disappointment was second half. Watch CE if you are a SRK or Deepika fan, you will not get disappointed. But if you are looking for perfect then this is not the movie. But still good time pass

Director Mr. Rohit Shetty again proves that he can dig out humor from even very simple scenes. Story by K. Subash is very routine. Screenplay by Yunus Sajawal makes it interesting. Dialogues by Sajid - Farhad is witty and impressing. You can say dialogues are the best part of this film. After long time I watched a movie which is far better than its promos and trailer. This movie has more humor and romance than action except the climax. Movie would have been more interesting if creative team would have preferred to flex their brain muscles rather than flexing the body muscles in climax as it was in Singham. Action in climax makes the film exaggerated otherwise it always moves on a sweet pace. Shahrukh Khan can carry emotional scene better than the action one. Actually , he is incomparable and best in emotional scenes. Performance wise Deepika Padukone is brilliantly awesome. She acts with ease and makes the character believable. Shahrukh Khan is also commendable. His comedy timing is superb. In climax emotional speech, he is the one and only one, who could have emoted it so convincingly. Rest cast supports the film in fair manner. Music by Vishal and Shekhar is not so good at audio level but in film, it gels with mood and flow. After all one time must watch.

When I went to watch Chennai Express, I had in my mind that it was a Rohit Shetty movie and hence it couldn't be very good. I knew it could be highly nonsensical. I just hoped it would've a sensible plot. And I am glad to say it does have a sensible plot. It's little forced and unconvincing at times, but it's extremely entertaining. This is the story of Rahul, played by Shah Rukh Khan, who isn't satisfied with his life. His life takes a turn, when he meets Meena, played by Deepika Padukone, on Chennai Express. In following events, the movie shifts to South India of amazingly beautiful locations and significantly developed villages. The movie though keeps delivering hilarious punches, the story gets a bit stagnant. Meanwhile the two songs, "Titli" and "Tera Rasta Chodoon Na" lend movie the romantic texture. The fighting sequence was realistic and hence very unlike the Rohit Shetty films. Talking about acting, this isn't how I would like Shah Rukh Khan to act but then it is that kind of film. Deepika Padukone is amazing in her portrayal of a Tamil girl. The music by Vishal-Shekhar is quite decent. Rohit Shetty's direction seems evolved and I think this is his best film by now. He hasn't been very good with his movies' endings but this one has a fine climax that leaves us with a smile on our face. I'll go with 7 on the scale of 10.

Chennai Express delivers what was expected from a commercial spicy masala entertainer. The movie has got no great story as the title tells you the one line "Express love on a journey". It's a usual SRK movie with Rohit Shetty style of execution.

Since the plot surrounds strong Tamil background I have to tell you my analysis in two views 1. As a viewer like me from Tamil Nadu 2. As a Non tamilian viewer As a viewer like me from Tamil Nadu it was like a spoof of 1980's Tamil movie and sometimes looked like humiliating Tamilians. For a non Tamil viewer like my friends they did like the Tamil base in it. Since we can see so much of Tamil influence in Bollywood industry nowadays. To start off with singers from Tamil, actors from Tamil like Dhanush directors from Tamil AR Murugadoss and choreographers from Tamil Prabhudeva. But it does promise you to stay glued to your seats by all the necessary ingredients.

SRK as usual a non serious Indian blushing types of hero and was yet again with his trade name Rahul. He does a great job and gives what was demanded for a film like this. At least this time he has come with a character with an age of 40.

Worth mention would be the lady lead Deepika Padukone she has done an excellent job by adapting the Tamil style of English and Hindi speaking. She was shown well in the movie with her beautiful makeover.

Satyaraj plays the father fits the role picture perfect. The villain has done justice to the role of Thangaballi. There are so many gigantic long haired fatty black goons you will see in the movie. Direction,Camera, Music and Editing were good as per requirements for a spicy masala.

Music was very good particularly "Titli" was a good breezy romantic number that makes us hum after we come out of the theater.

I have to say the positives were Deepika,SRK and music. Negatives were the sets and Tamil base were over colored and totally artificial.

Get in for a movie which has got something for everyone in the family to keep you entertained for 2 hours 20 mins.

-Reviewed by Sivakumar Balachandran

(bsiva84@gmail.com)