0.5 stars
It seems Bollywood is hell bent on churning out nonsensical movies every alternate Friday, which might have seemed good on paper but they don't even deserve to get a proper release for themselves. Chal Bhaag -- directed by Prakash Saini, who has some movies of the lowest standard to his credit -- is one such ludicrous crime comedy which relies too heavily on unabashed conventionalism, brandishing the same stuff in the name of entertainment.
Without beating around the bush, let me first rationalize the plot! Three absurdly-named Delhi black hats Munna Supari (Deepak Dobriyal), Bunty Chor (Tarun Bajaj) and Daler Singh (Varun Mehra) find themselves falsely framed in ex-MLA Solanki's murder case amidst corrupt cops, straggly bullets, obsolescent dons and a pimp (Sanjay Mishra). How they prove themselves innocent, forms the crux of the story!
There isn’t enough novelty as lot of sequences and scenes look like they were either inspired or written after watching other films. The jokes and one liners fall flat early on in the film. The only ones laughing are the on screen characters. Though the story/screenplay (Tarun Bajaj) sheds light on serious issues like the police's fake encounters and flesh trade, the makers get all the basics and technicalities wrong. The unforgivably cringeworthy dialogues (Tarun Bajaj and Niket Pandey) along with the introduction of multiple characters make the proceedings so routine and monotonous that the viewers fervently hope for some novelty. Adding to the woes, there are obscene item numbers popping out of nowhere every now and again, which again make the ongoings unbearable. The music (Sadhu Sushil Tiwari, Sanjay Pathak and Satish Kashyap) pays homage to the films of yore. Ditto for the background score (Amit Rathod). The lyrics (Niket Pandey, Dr. Devendra Kafir and Prita S. Pathak) too, are filthy. One can clearly point out from the stale production design (Abdul Salim) that this is vintage 80s masala. Once the stage is set, the narrative, although amusing at times, meanders into been-there-seen-that kind of situations, more so towards the penultimate moments. Sure, Prakash Saini tries to integrate a twist or two in the tale, but, again, you know where the film is heading a few sequences later. Sameer Bhaskar's cinematography offers no novelty and is amateurishly done with hawkers, rickshaw pullers and eager tourists staring into the camera in crowded market places, will leave the viewers reeling with an amateur student-film syndrome. The chase sequences (Shakil Shaikh) and the climax, shot clumsily, are hurried. There's no real meat - not even to last the modest runtime of 111 minutes (editing: Hardik Singh Reen) - to make CHAL BHAAG memorable in any way. Everything happens at its own sweet pace and somewhere in the middle you start losing interest. With some more enthusiasm and zest the film would have had a better impact.
Deepak Dobriyal, Yashpal Sharma, Mukesh Tiwari and Atul Srivastava stand out with earnest performances. Sanjay Mishra's character is most ambiguous. Debutant Varun Mehra tries too hard to be a no-nonsense guy but falls flat owing to his over the top acting. Debutante Keeya Khanna is natural. Tarun Bajaj should quit acting. Manish Khanna and Kunwar Aziz are wasted.
On the whole, CHAL BHAAG fails as a film with lack of solid plotline, narrative, screenplay, good acting, good direction, good music et al. If, in case, I have missed out any department, just consider it was bad as well with the worst part being the dialogues. The film squanders the idea by stretching it around and turning several of its characters into overblown stereotypes with outlandish accents and exaggerated gestures -- even as its hero plays it mostly cool and realistic. The result is a film that never connects, a film that is frustratingly hard to like. Dobriyal fans will be pleased, but its annoying need to act like a farce with a laugh-track is what ironically dashes its chances. CHAL BHAAG is a grand tapestry of trash! Disaster!
first appeared on: http://www.desimartini.com/movies/chal-bhaag/md3483.htm
It seems Bollywood is hell bent on churning out nonsensical movies every alternate Friday, which might have seemed good on paper but they don't even deserve to get a proper release for themselves. Chal Bhaag -- directed by Prakash Saini, who has some movies of the lowest standard to his credit -- is one such ludicrous crime comedy which relies too heavily on unabashed conventionalism, brandishing the same stuff in the name of entertainment.
Without beating around the bush, let me first rationalize the plot! Three absurdly-named Delhi black hats Munna Supari (Deepak Dobriyal), Bunty Chor (Tarun Bajaj) and Daler Singh (Varun Mehra) find themselves falsely framed in ex-MLA Solanki's murder case amidst corrupt cops, straggly bullets, obsolescent dons and a pimp (Sanjay Mishra). How they prove themselves innocent, forms the crux of the story!
There isn’t enough novelty as lot of sequences and scenes look like they were either inspired or written after watching other films. The jokes and one liners fall flat early on in the film. The only ones laughing are the on screen characters. Though the story/screenplay (Tarun Bajaj) sheds light on serious issues like the police's fake encounters and flesh trade, the makers get all the basics and technicalities wrong. The unforgivably cringeworthy dialogues (Tarun Bajaj and Niket Pandey) along with the introduction of multiple characters make the proceedings so routine and monotonous that the viewers fervently hope for some novelty. Adding to the woes, there are obscene item numbers popping out of nowhere every now and again, which again make the ongoings unbearable. The music (Sadhu Sushil Tiwari, Sanjay Pathak and Satish Kashyap) pays homage to the films of yore. Ditto for the background score (Amit Rathod). The lyrics (Niket Pandey, Dr. Devendra Kafir and Prita S. Pathak) too, are filthy. One can clearly point out from the stale production design (Abdul Salim) that this is vintage 80s masala. Once the stage is set, the narrative, although amusing at times, meanders into been-there-seen-that kind of situations, more so towards the penultimate moments. Sure, Prakash Saini tries to integrate a twist or two in the tale, but, again, you know where the film is heading a few sequences later. Sameer Bhaskar's cinematography offers no novelty and is amateurishly done with hawkers, rickshaw pullers and eager tourists staring into the camera in crowded market places, will leave the viewers reeling with an amateur student-film syndrome. The chase sequences (Shakil Shaikh) and the climax, shot clumsily, are hurried. There's no real meat - not even to last the modest runtime of 111 minutes (editing: Hardik Singh Reen) - to make CHAL BHAAG memorable in any way. Everything happens at its own sweet pace and somewhere in the middle you start losing interest. With some more enthusiasm and zest the film would have had a better impact.
Deepak Dobriyal, Yashpal Sharma, Mukesh Tiwari and Atul Srivastava stand out with earnest performances. Sanjay Mishra's character is most ambiguous. Debutant Varun Mehra tries too hard to be a no-nonsense guy but falls flat owing to his over the top acting. Debutante Keeya Khanna is natural. Tarun Bajaj should quit acting. Manish Khanna and Kunwar Aziz are wasted.
On the whole, CHAL BHAAG fails as a film with lack of solid plotline, narrative, screenplay, good acting, good direction, good music et al. If, in case, I have missed out any department, just consider it was bad as well with the worst part being the dialogues. The film squanders the idea by stretching it around and turning several of its characters into overblown stereotypes with outlandish accents and exaggerated gestures -- even as its hero plays it mostly cool and realistic. The result is a film that never connects, a film that is frustratingly hard to like. Dobriyal fans will be pleased, but its annoying need to act like a farce with a laugh-track is what ironically dashes its chances. CHAL BHAAG is a grand tapestry of trash! Disaster!
first appeared on: http://www.desimartini.com/movies/chal-bhaag/md3483.htm
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