Chameli

i think this is the best low budget movie i have seen for a long time. The story is very simple but the director has presented it in a very refreshing manner. The acting is good. Rahul Bose is excellent as usual. Kareena surprisingly has given a good performance. All the supporting actors are also good. I don't know why the directors in India don't make more such movies. I think there should be a quality board for Hindi cinema which monitors the quality of movies. Movies like "Ab Bas" should not be allowed. I think bollywood should try to find a right mix between movies like Devdas and Chameli. And perhaps make movies like "LAGAAN" in every 5 years.

Chameli is a delightful experience. It's about two people - a recently widowed businessman and a carefree street prostitute who meet on one rainy night when she is stuck with no clients and he is stuck as his car refuses to move. He is heartbroken and sad and she is cynical and vulgar. Yet, their interaction unveils so many life experiences, secrets and truths that they learn to know each other much more than expected and gradually get exposed and opened to each other. Their relationship develops so beautifully that it's like a story during several days or months. This concept is exceptional. The film is interesting and flows very well despite a somewhat slow pacing. I found the film artfully intriguing and very well narrated. The film belongs to Kareena Kapoor, who finally gave her first noteworthy performance. She does look a bit caricaturish in some scenes, but overall she is very convincing, charming and touching as a prostitute who is more of a prankster who somehow enjoys life and does not take it too seriously. Rahul Bose turns in a very fine and believable portrayal. The music is beautiful, the cinematography is effective, and the film is generally realistic and very entertaining. People who like artistic films will certainly enjoy this one. It is an impressive and fairly awakening piece.

What worked:

• the movie is a linear narrative happened at one rainy night, and also cyclic as it brings back the layers of incidents from the past. It's a bold movie and it's a daring job for Kareena to take this role, maybe one of her rarest performances.

What did not work:

• I am not sure what's wrong with the movie. It's a well written, acted and directed movie. However for some reason, the movie fails to get the solid punch that this movie should and could have given. Maybe it's the pulse that's off track or it's the repetitive narrative that's been seen before. There is no denying it's a good movie but the overall impact for me is average.

Final verdict: recommended, at least for role portrayed by Kareena

This movie is definitely a breakthrough in Bollywood cinema in terms of the story and the approach to telling it. The entire movie takes place in just one night. It is interesting to see how a family values, extremely wealthy man spends a night with a prostitute. Beginning with his prejudice, he slowly grows to accept, protect, and, one can even say, love her. It took an entire movie summed up in an extremely brief "climax" to perfectly convince and portray the theme that 'It doesn't matter what the backgrounds, gender, etc. are; there should just be love.'

My Rating : 6/10

It's about two people who meet on a rainy night. One a carefree prostitute and the other a sad businessman.

Kareena Kapoor and Rahul Bose give great honest performances and the film works off their chemistry with each other and their differing backgrounds and viewpoint of life.

Touching story, a different kind of love but love it is...