Friday, January 16, 2009
Bollywood movie review: Chandni Chowk to China
It’s all the slapstick comedy you could ask for in a kung fu flick, and all the drama that’s needed for a Bollywood movie.
Bollywood partnering with Hollywood seems to be a new trend. The first time we had Sony teaming up with Sanjay Leela Bhansali to make the artsy-fartsy, picturesque Saawariya back in 2007, which opened very lukewarmly in the US. Then Disney teamed up with Yash Raj for the poorly-done animated flick, Roadside Romeo in 2008. Now, we have Chandni Chowk To China, a Bollywood, kung fu flick being brought to theaters near you by Warner Brothers. So all fingers are crossed that this joint international venture goes over well this time.
And it’s done really well. It’s all the slapstick comedy you could ask for in a kung fu movie, and all the drama that’s needed for a Bollywood movie. Mind you, some moments definitely do require some monumental suspensions of disbelief, but that’s an Indian movie for you.
The plot begins in China, with the evil Hojo taking over a village. The disgruntled and wounded villagers want to steal the power back, so they go see a sage. He tells them that their eternal protector, Liu Sheng, has been reborn and taken a new shape. This is when we travel to India, and meet Sidhu (Akshay Kumar) who is supposed to be the new Liu Sheng, the protector of the Chinese village.
However, Sidhu is just a simple vegetable cutter in Chandni Chowk and has the worst luck possible. He seeks out astrologers who con him and make him believe he has good things coming. One such sage is Chopstick (Ranvir Shorey), who meets the Chinese villagers that have tracked down Sidhu. Chopstick manipulates Sidhu into believing he is the Liu Sheng incarnate and gets them both to China to fight Hojo. Of course, when Sidhu and Chopstick arrive in China, they are treated like kings.
Meanwhile, we meet a commercial queen, Sakhi (Deepika Padukone), who is in China because of her ½ Chinese heritage. She has a Chinese father and an identical twin sister who supposedly died by the hands of Hojo. Since Suzy was separated at birth, she has become one of Hojo’s gang members and is now known by the alias of Meow Meow. Because of mistaken identities, Sakhi gets mixed up into Sidhu plot.
When Sidhu finally has a confrontation with Hojo, he realizes that he was coaxed by Chopstick into beleiving he was the hero of the village. Being humiliated and psychologically shattered, he reaches his lowest point and decides to get his revenge on Hojo. Of course, this is intermission and when the real drama begins. Sidhu decides to become a warrior and fight for his morals and the village.
Before intermission, the film entertains completely with some amazing comedic moments:
- Sidhu believes a potato is in the shape of Lord Ganesha and gets the whole town to come and pray to it
- Sakhi advertises for a new corny dance game that sends Sidhu into an amazing medley of famous Indian songs.
- Chopstick and Sidhu on the plane is a scene in itself.
And after intermission, all the storylines converge into a very intriguing revenge drama, where the audience hopes for the family to be reunited, the villagers to be saved, and for Sidhu to rise and get his revenge. However because it is Bollywood, so many whimsical moments and unreal coincidences occur that you just have to forgive them.
This movie works because of Akshay Kumar. To see him transform from the helpless villager to a heroic fighter, the film rests firmly and dependently on his shoulders. He has always shown that he can handle comedy with his past flicks, such as Hera Pheri. But because he is a black belt holder, he never fails in proving that he is an action star also. The fight choreography is all entertaining and not the same one-two punch as seen in a lot of Bollywood. This movie was made for him and has blended his two talents with such ease to pave his way to being a global superstar.
Deepika Padukone also gets two great roles to create nice impressions. Not only does she keep stunning the audience with her model looks, but she gets to play the typical ingénue with Sakhi, and then gets to be a kickass villainess with Suzy/Meow Meow. And the distinction between to the two is very finely enacted, especially since she can be comical too.
The supporting actors Ranvir Shorey, Gordon Liu, and Roger Yuan are all perfect in their characterizations. Props to Mr. Yuan for speaking Hindi and being comprehendible.
One minus from the film is the very mediocre soundtrack. Only the title song is catchy and is picturized in an appealing and funny manner.
Director Nikhil Advani showed off his skillful talent in mixing comedy with drama as he has done in the past with Salaam-E-Ishq and Kal Ho Naa Ho. With all the coincidental acclaim of Slumdog, Chandni Chowk to China definitely has some buzz around it to represent Bollywood since the WB has decided to put their money into this. Let’s hope the American audiences can find the humor as well, because of course, the subtitles will cause some funny moments to be lost in translation.
