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Ujda Chaman Movie Review: You'll be Left Scratching Your Head After Watching This Film

Despite a meaty premise, there are too many missed opportunities in 'Ujda Chaman'. Read our full review of the movie below.

Priyanka Sinha Jha | News18.com

Updated:November 1, 2019, 9:45 AM IST

Cast: Sunny Singh, Saurabh Shukla, Maanvi Gagroo

Director: Abhishek Pathak

Who says beauty isn't skin deep? Or in this case, scalp deep? The Ujda Chaman in this film is 30-year-old Chaman Kohli (Sunny Singh) from Rajauri Garden who’s the subject of much mirth and ridicule courtesy his balding pate.

Ujda Chaman Movie Review: Sunny Singh's film on premature balding is bland at best

Promised as a quirky take on premature balding, Ujda Chaman is mostly bland. With predictable intermittent jokes, the film doesn't have anything new to offer.

Jyoti Kanyal New DelhiNovember 1, 2019UPDATED: November 1, 2019 11:47 IST

Movie Name: Ujda Chaman Cast: Sunny Singh

Director: Abhishek Pathak

An out-of-the-box idea? Check. Unsolicited controversy? Check. Remake of a South Indian film? Check. Satisfactory performances by the actors? Check. Abhishek Pathak's Ujda Chaman has, approximately, everything to make it a fun and entertaining watch. But despite that, the film drastically fails at being one. Starring Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety actor Sunny Singh, the film promised to be a quirky take on the problem of premature balding, which it is, but that's it. It touches upon the problem, makes predictable intermittent jokes and without delving deep into the plot, makes the audience leave the theatre disappointed.

Ujda Chaman is the story of a typical West Delhi Punjabi family, who are looking for a girl for their elder son Chaman (played by Sunny Singh). Chaman is a Hindi lecturer at Delhi University who has been trying to get married for the past five years. But because of his receding hairline, he is unable to find a suitable bride. A family guruji's prediction about his wedding just adds fuel to the desperation of the Kohli family to get Chaman married before he turns 31. He tries all tactics to entice women, but nothing helps. From thinking about hair transplant to opting for a wig, the 30-something "takla master" leaves no stone unturned to look his age and get married. He is so desperate to get a girl that he ends up becoming the victim of a first-year girl who uses him to pass college examinations.

His last resort? Yes, Tinder. No points for guesses. Here comes an overweight, but confident Apsara (played by Maanvi Gagroo). She is everything pleasant and on the dating app because of a recent break-up. Predictable enough? Told you so. Though both of them reject each other in the first meeting for the obvious reasons, they end up meeting each other's families and then happens the usual 'shaadi ki baat-cheet' stuff. This relationship has the potential to work but Chaman's insecurities play spoilsport.

Everything is so predictable and boring in Ujda Chaman that at a point, one doesn't hesitate to even take a nap. The film mainly lacks in the writing department. It could have been a fun, slice-of-life film which could have brought a serious issue into general discourse, but loose writing makes it rather bland.

One particular scene which shows Chaman stare at their house help's cleavage and his mother shouting at the woman to wear better clothes "because men are around" paves way for an awkward moment, which makes you cringe. But you are confused if it is funny, because people around you are laughing out loud.

The performances by the lead actors are satisfactory, if not as bad as the writing. Sunny Singh as Chaman is just a bald version of Titu from Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. But he can't be blamed entirely as the script doesn't quite allow him to explore. Chaman's parents, played by Atul Kumar and Grusha Kapoor, are fun to watch. They are the loud, textbook 'desi' couple, who are doing it all to see their son married and thus creating laughter.

Saurabh Shukla has a cameo in the role of the family guruji. Maanvi Gagroo as Apsara portrays her character with sensibility. A popular face on TV, Aishwarya Sakhuja as Chaman's colleague doesn't leave any impact on the big screen. But there's a surprise element. You will see a face from a popular Indian web series starring Manoj Bajpayee. He is JK from The Family Man - Sharib Hashmi. Didn't want to tell you this, but then, this bit of suspense should not be your sole reason to go and watch the film.

Ujda Chaman has four songs with none of them being remarkable. One good thing about the film is the way it shows Delhi. The Capital city looks beautiful as the camera pans over Shah Rukh Khan's alma mater Hansraj College, India Gate, Hauz Khas and Dilli Haat, among several other popular spots. A true blue Delhiite will surely connect with the film because of this.

So if you have nothing better to do in life this weekend and want to go out with friends and family, you can give Ujda Chaman a try. Delhiites have an extra excuse to watch the film as they will be able to see their beautiful city sans the post-Diwali fog and pollution. And the most important reason, watch Ujda Chaman to compare it with Ayushmann Khurrana's next film Bala, which also talks about premature balding and is out next week. Find out for yourself if the film is worth the controversy it created right before its release.

1.5 out of 5 stars for Ujda Chaman

‘Ujda Chaman’ review: Not razor-sharp enough

Namrata Joshi

November 01, 2019 13:23 IST Updated: November 01, 2019 13:23 IST

A film which can’t decide whether it wants to be funny, emotional or romantic or a mix of all. As a result it leaves the audience disconnected and confused as well

Through the two hours of Ujda Chaman, all I could think of was the unconventional choice made by director Abhishek Pathak in picking up maverick actors like theatreperson Atul Kumar and Grusha “Tara” Kapoor to play the most cliched of supporting roles: Punjabi parents of the hero. There is intermittent freshness and a slight touch of the genuine to that, particularly in a few scenes of the parents of the girl and the boy bonding with each other, while they themselves remain unsure of the path ahead in their relationship. But, by and large, Kumar and Kapoor get wasted in stereotypical loudness and infantile humour involving mispronunciation of words like testosterone, metabolism and celibacy.

It’s a hodgepodge of a script that starts off being about a young man suffering from premature baldness. Sunny Singh plays the lead role of Chaman Kohli, a Hindi lecturer at Delhi’s Hanraj College, who is in search of a pretty wife but keeps getting rejected due to his bald pate. To make matters worse, the family guruji (Saurabh Shukla) warns that he must marry before his 31st birthday, which is just a few months away, or remain celibate forever. Even as Chaman tries hard to come to terms with his problem, the whole wide world is intent on heaping its cruelty on him, or exploit his inferiority complex for their own personal gains. There seems to be hardly any sensitive, sympathetic soul around other than a possible bride, Apsara (Maanvi Gagroo), who is fighting body image issues of her own.

Then, somewhere in the middle, this official remake of the 2017 Kannada movie Ondu Motteya Kathe, decides to change course and becomes about Chaman’s own prejudices. He himself might be “imperfect” but wouldn’t settle for a less-than-perfect bride.

Eventually the film jumps into the familiar commitment-phobia zone, that has been done and dusted in Bollywood romances anyhow. Why there’s even a song Oh Bandeya coaxing the hero to settle down? Its lyrics are nothing more than a rehash of Kabira from Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani.

The film is also unable to get its tone right. It can’t decide whether it wants to be funny, emotional or romantic or a mix of all. As a result it leaves the audience disconnected and confused as well. Should it laugh, cry or simply tear its hair out?

Sunny Singh makes the bland Chaman worse with his insipid, sepulchral presence. The high nobility of Maanvi Gagroo’s character Apsara nothwithstanding, she is the only one who manages to salvage things a bit and holds her own, even though the film tries hard to reduce her to a weeping doormat.

From hair oil to transplant to a hair piece, as Chaman tries to weigh in all the options I was actually left wondering why doesn’t he just see a good hair stylist and get himself a smart makeover instead? That would have saved a lot of agony all around.

‘Ujda Chaman’ movie review: A receding hairline equals a scant comedy

Abhishek Pathak directs Sunny Singh and Maanvi Gagroo in an official remake of the Kannada film ‘Ondu Motteya Kathe’.

Nandini Ramnath

In this mostly faithful official remake of the Kannada comedy Ondu Motteya Kathe (2017), a receding hairline is put on par with a serious disability. A 30-year-old college lecturer discovers that his prospects of finding a bride are fading along with his scalp hair. Chaman (Sunny Singh) is the source of worry for his parents (Atul Kumar and Grusha Kapoor) and the object of ridicule at his workplace. The insensitive college students appear never to have met a prematurely balding man before, and treat Chaman as though he has an extra nose or a third eye. When an astrologer issues a dire warning of life-long celibacy if a wedding doesn’t take place before Chaman turns 31, our hero panics.

It’s confidence that Chaman lacks, Abhishek Pathak’s movie suggests, but it soon becomes clear that Chaman is also short on sensitivity. His quest finally leads him to Apsara (Maanvi Gagroo), whose ample girth is meant to balance out Chaman’s baldness. These two romantic outliers are sort of forced into a relationship, one that Apsara embraces with more enthusiasm than Chaman for reasons that remain unknown at the end of 120 minutes.

The question of why Apsara behaves like the similarly plump heroine in Dum Laga Ke Haisha and condones Chaman’s increasingly obnoxious behaviour is never quite satisfactorily answered. A movie that sets itself up as an anti-romcom, one in which outward appearances don’t matter, makes little effort to explore the inner lives of its characters, particularly its self-centred hero.

Even Sunny Singh is a much bigger draw than the "ACTING GOD/ STAR" on youtube, twitter comments rajkummar rao. 😆

Udja Chaman - Teminator - Saand Ki Aankh - Made In China Update

Saturday 02 November 2019 12.00 ISTBox Office India Trade Network

Udja Chaman collected 1.75 crore nett on day one as it made some gains in the evening especially the Delhi / NCR belt. The film has no face value whatsoever so these collections are not that bad. There will be growth on Saturday and if it could get close to the Friday collection on Monday it could have a decent little run. The film is a low budget film made on a production budget of 7 crore plus pa. The film collected more than Made In China and Saand Ki Aankh on day one and although those films were on pre Diwali its still a much better opening for Udja Chaman. It is three times more than Saand Ki Aankh and almost double of Made In China and Udja Chaman has a lesser release and has a far lower budget.

The Hollywood release Terminator - Dark Fate was the best new release of the week with 2.85 crore nett and the task for Udja Chaman will be to catch this film as Udja Chaman can show a better trend than Terminator - Dark Fate.

Made In China crashed out on day eight and will finish with lifetime business of under 12 crore nett. The collections of Made In China till date are as follows.

Week One - 10,25,00,000 apprx

Friday - 15,00,000 apprx

TOTAL - 10,40,00,000 apprx

Saand Ki Aankh colelcted 1.15 crore nett on its second Friday and it did not fall much on its second Friday but the problem is that very low first week. The film collected more than double of its first day but that is because of pre Diwali. Despite the eighth day being much higher than the first day it will probably be a lower second week that first and the film needed a higher second week to get a decent final result.. The collections of Saand Ki Aankh till date are as follows.

Week One - 11,90,00,000 apprx

Friday - 1,15,00,000 apprx

TOTAL - 13,05,00,000 apprx

Saturday Update: Udja Chaman - Saand Ki Aankh - Terminator

Sunday 03 November 2019 11.00 ISTBox Office India Trade Network

Udja Chaman showed growth of around 40% on day two which is lower than the normal growth on Saturday especially for metro films and normally this sort of growth would not be good enough. But the growth is generally weak this Saturday be it Housefull 4, Saand Ki Aankh or even War so it remains to be seen how it goes in the next few days. The collections of Udja Chaman are as follows.

Friday - 1,75,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 2,50,00,000 apprx

TOTAL - 4,25,00,000 apprx

The Hollywood release Terminator - Dark Fate also could not show much growth as it jumped 20%. Its two day total is 6 crore nett apprx. The collections of Terminator - Dark Fate are as follows.

Friday - 2,75,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 3,25,00,000 apprx

TOTAL - 6,00,00,000 apprx

Saand Ki Aankh had the best growth on Saturday at around 55% but this is low for a second Saturday which is only really doing metro multiplex film. The collections of this film are now around 15 crore nett. The collections of Saand Ki Aankh till date are as follows.

Week One - 11,90,00,000 apprx

Friday - 1,25,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 1,90,00,000 apprx

TOTAL - 15,05,00,000 apprx

https://twitter.com/taran_adarsh/status/1190890098956496896?s=19

https://twitter.com/BOWorldwide/status/1191977591105839104?s=19

Udja Chaman is heading for a 10.50 crore nett first week which is not good enough for the film. The weekday collections had to be much better. The collections of Udja Chaman are as follows.

Friday - 1,75,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 2,50,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 3,00,00,000 apprx

Monday - 90,00,000 apprx

Tuesday - 85,00,000 apprx

TOTAL - 8,90,00,000 apprx