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Johnny.Balraj

@Johnny.Balraj

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Posted: 12 years ago

#301

^^already posted by me

Bollywood Movie Review: Chennai Express (5 Reasons You Shouldn't Board This Train)

Chennai Express

When Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan) boards Chennai Express, he has a clear purpose in mind: give his grandmother the slip and head off to Goa, instead of the intended Rameshwaram. But in a twist of fate, he ends up being held hostage with South Indian beauty, Meena (Deepika Padukone) and taken off to her village.

Is Chennai Express worth boarding this weekend? Unfortunately, we think you should get off the train, baby. Here are 5 things that had us scratching our heads during the film.Rashmi Daryanani

Aug 9, 2013 12:37 am

1. The Nokia product placement. We know product placements are a given in a SRK film, but I think this may be his most overt one yet. As in, he rattles off everything from the phone's model number, to its tech specs, to its (very specific) price. Multiple times.

2. Meena got on the wrong train. I spent pretty much the whole movie trying to figure out the answer to this question: if Deepika's character was running away from her family and was trying desperately to avoid returning to her hometown – where she would be forced to marry against her will – then why on earth did she hop onto the train that takes her to her town?

Chennai Express

3. The jokes. The film has its funny moments – I laughed out loud over "Life of Pi" (crazy though it was) and Deepika's chudail scene for sure. For the most part, though, there aren't enough gags, or they come off forced. Sometimes, they're overdone (the DDLJ references start off as funny, but end up being overused). Sometimes, they're ridiculously silly and fall flat (the dwarf scene in the woods). And sometimes, they just make you want to groan (Angelina Jolie reference).

4. It chugs along. This is one train that goes in circles – Rahul repeatedly leaves Meena (every time thinking it's the last time he'll see her), only to meet her again shortly thereafter. They keep ending up in Meena's hometown, despite the fact that they should be avoiding it like the plague. There are too many absolutely unnecessary scenes in the film, such as a tangent involving smugglers on their way to Sri Lanka, which ended with SRK being right back where he started. A lot of it just doesn't make sense… and yes, I'm aware that this is a Rohit Shetty film, but still.

Chennai Express

5. The lack of subtitles. A big portion of this film involves dialogue delivery in Tamil, and while you're never completely confused because Meena ("Miss Subtitle" according to Rahul) translates the important bits, it's obvious there are some things that are lost. Plus, it becomes wearisome to try and keep up, and you can't help but feel it would've been a lot simpler if subtitles were included. After all, it is the kind of film that requires you to disengage, and you can't exactly do that if it's not easy to understand what's being said.

That said, I do have to highlight some of the things I liked about the movie, because there are a few: like I mentioned previously, there are funny moments, and even though SRK hams it up – it is required for the role, though – he does pull off some gags well. Deepika does well in this film, and while her accent slips on occasion, she outshines SRK at parts. Nikitin Dheer is menacing without even having to utter a world. Also, I'm a complete sucker maybe, but I couldn't help smiling at some of the profound bits in the movie, like "it's good to be important, but it's more important to be good." Yes, it's cheesy, but ah well.

Chennai Express

VERDICT:

It has its moments, but for the most part, Chennai Express can be a bit of a bore. I wouldn't have even minded if Rohit Shetty went all out and made it absolutely, incredibly ludicrous, but he somehow manages to fall somewhere in between – typical "masala" at parts, but rather drab at others.

Rashmi Daryanani
Aug 9, 2013 12:37 am

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Che.Guevara

@Che.Guevara

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Posted: 12 years ago

#302

Boxofficedetail ?@boxofficedetail

#ChennaiExpress 2nd Review [PRINCESS].Treat for massala, srk, rohit nd depika lovers. Opps it wil cover whole India. Yeah Its for all. 3.5/5

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Che.Guevara

@Che.Guevara

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Posted: 12 years ago

#303

#ChennaiExpress Fans dancing on 1234 inside the cinema unbelievable scenes

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Hira

@friends_rock

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Posted: 12 years ago

#304

Originally posted by: DAKDAK
I wait for her shubhra gupta ?@shubhragupta review as well, she is damn honest. Most of the time😛

http://m.indianexpress.com/news/review-chennai-express/1153040/

😃

Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Sathyaraj, Nikitin Dheer

Director: Rohit Shetty

The Indian Express rating: **1/2

Wannakum, wannago? I went into 'Chennai Express' dreading I would be doused, doused I tell you, with a staggering number of stereotypes, and I would spend the film flinching and grimacing and counting the minutes.

But as 'Chennai Express' began chugging along , I found myself laughing out loud in a place. Or two. The laughs came intermittently through the first half, and I was still sitting in my seat at the interval. And then it turned into the same old story : the plot, which was thinner than a self-respecting wafer to start with, just gives up and dies, and the lead pair, Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone stop talking to each other (even as Padukone's thickly-accented 'main aati, aur jaati' out-Mehmoods Mehmood at his most outre') and begin posturing. They have no competition from anything else : the trademark Shetty bang bang –car chases, jeeps blowing up, large groups of people charging at each other—is by now more eye glaze than ever.

This could have been a good caper, in which madcap characters race around the countryside with other madcap characters in hot pursuit. Especially when Shah Rukh Khan is so willingly sending himself up as only he can, with such a knowing nudge-and-wink that you smile despite yourself. 'Rahul', he introduces himself to Meenamaa ( Padukone) : 'naam toh suna hoga'. You know you are being set up, and yet you can't help being amused. The amusement lasts only momentarily, though, and you are left feeling sorry at the waste.

Rahul wants to head to Goa to party with his pals, but he gets on to the Chennal Express instead, to fulfil his late dadaji's dying wish. On that train hops the beauteous Meenakshi aka Meenamma, on the run from her appa ( Sathyaraj) who is some kind of a don in a Tamil Nadu village, and who wants to marry her off. One thing leads to another, and the two reach said village. Towering hulk who is also would-be-groom ( Dheer) arrives to growl and snarl. A phalanx of dark-complexioned fierce fellows shake sickles at Rahul, who is left to face a barrage of rapid-fire Tamilian yakkity yak, and a Meenamma who dimples prettily whenever she is given a chance.

Mercifully, Shetty doesn't have his dark' southy' fellows licking 'rasam' off their elbows. He also, surprise, has them speak long, complex sentences in Tamil without someone immediately translating them ( a very Shetty, very tiresome thing). So much so that 'Chennai Express' can safely be called the first Tamil film in Hindi. Clearly, having Shah Rukh as co-producing hero stopped Shetty from ratcheting the blown-jeeps-meter : he suddenly finds he has to go all emo, and do a 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge'. And cobble bits and pieces from other hit SRK films. It's another matter that Shah Rukh is looking his age in certain angles : having the sprightly Padukone josh about him looking fifty cuts too close to the bone.

Still, this is a pair trying to have some fun, and coming up with some genuinely funny moments. Padukone looks lovely and sticks to a spunky over –the- topness, and doesn't waver, till she's made to go all emotional. That's when her graph dips. That's when Shah Rukh's raffish charm slips. And that is also when 'Chennai Express' derails. And wannakum becomes wannago.

Edited by friends_rock - 12 years ago

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Che.Guevara

@Che.Guevara

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Posted: 12 years ago

#305

Cant wait for DB anymore 😆

less than 24 hr 🥳

Ready Steady Po 😎

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668837

Hibernated

Posted: 12 years ago

#306

Done with the movie.

LOVEEED IT! Detailed review ghar pohochke ok.

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Dilwali89

@Dilwali89

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Posted: 12 years ago

#307

It has all the ingredients -- big star cast, drama, action, comedy, songs, the car chases and the big finish, all delivered in Rohit Shetty's unapologetic ishtyle.

Film still

Film: Chennai Express
Ratings: ***1/2
Directed by: Rohit Shetty
Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Niketan Dheer, and Satyaraj

What it's about:
The story isn't very different from all the usual boy-meets girl romance. You know from the beginning what will happen. You have seen it many times before but the beauty is that you know whats coming, and you still want it. Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan) embarks on a journey to fulfill the last wish of his grandfather: to have his ashes immersed in the Holy water of Rameshwaram. He meets Meena (Deepika Padukone) on the train and while attempting to rescue her from kidnappers gets caught up in her mess. Thus begins his journey to her village, her people, and how her fight becomes his fight. It's a refreshing light-headed cocktail of love and laughs. The director stays true to his style and his audience. It is clean, colorful and comical.

What's good:
This is a treat for all Hindi film lovers. It has it all you'd expect from a big commercial masala film. It has all the ingredients -- big star cast, drama, action, comedy, songs, the car chases and the big finish, all delivered in Rohit Shetty's unapologetic ishtyle. For SRK fans, it is an even bigger treat. The actor returns to what he does best -- romance. But it isn't the sacrificing and soppy love of Jab Tak Hai Jaan. This one is a crowd-pleaser. The film begins with a flashback with Rahul growling like a wild animal, and then he tells just how he got there. Among the things that crop up in Rahul and Meena's misadventures: Her dad's stolen car, a dwarf in the middle of the forest, a walk up 300 steps of a temple and drama at high-seas! SRK is in his elements whether he is beating up a village full of people, romancing Meena, beating up the big baddie or faking bravado when faced with four hefty goons. Deepika delivers yet another fantastic performance. She stays in character throughout and matches her co-star's energy and enthusiasm whether it is singing dialogues or fighting goondas. It's impossible to watch this movie impassively. Chennai Express has the the kind of flourish that makes you smile. Watch out for the crazy references in songs and scenes to Shah Rukh's previous films. Overall, this is a bubblegum blockbuster.

What's not:
There is just too much Tamil in Chennai Express. There I said it. There are long dialogues between actors in Tamil, and while one doe understand what is being conveyed, it is still tedious. This is what it must feel to the rest of India, when they watch Hindi films with an overdose of Punjabi (songs/scenes) in Hindi films.The different being that Punjabi is similar to Hindi, and most people understand it. Not the case with Tamil. While Shah Rukh and Deepika are enough to light up the scene, you begin to miss other familiar faces in terms of character actors, who are always a part of Rohit's other films like the Golmaals, Bol Bachchan and Singham. Here, with all the south flavour, one often wonders if there are south actors in Hindi film or if it is a south film starring SRK and Deepika. It isn't convincing when Rahul suddenly speaks Tamil in the climax, and the very people who didn't understand Hindi earlier now comprehend everything. There is also boos boos like not a single scratch on the car, after it has been repeatedly banged from both sides, the injury on Rahul's lip getting wiped out afterMeena touches it but badi badi film on main aisi chhoti chhoti galtiyaan hoti rehti hain.

What to do:
The sole purpose of Chennai Express is to entertain. And that it does. So grab a bucket of popcorn, sit back and enjoy the ride.

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Dilwali89

@Dilwali89

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Posted: 12 years ago

#308

Story: A 40-year-old Punjabi man is on a mission to immerse his grandfather's ashes down South. Enroute he meets a young Tamilian girl who has eloped. Their lives entwine and his journey takes an altogether different route.

Review: In an ode to his own cinema—read Golmaal series, Bol Bachchan, Rohit Shetty ishstyle, the director, who has grossers in Bollywood's 100-crore club, ups the scale for his Eid offering.

Chennai Express (CE) is a magnificently mounted film. Never having been strong in the story department, CE too has a guillible plot line. Rahul ( Shah Rukh Khan) is asked by his dadi (Kamini Kaushal) to drop his granddad's ashes in Rameswaram, the southern-most tip of India. He boards theChennai Express to hoodwink granny but has secretly planned a getaway with his guy friends to Goa. Alas, in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge fashion, a damsel in distress, Meena ( Deepika Padukone) asks for his outstretched hand as he stands on the footboard. And his Samaritan act changes his destiny.

He discovers she's the daughter of a Don from a South-side village and her accompanying cousins (hulks in pony tails) want her to return home. Her father wants Meena to marry another hulk (Niketan Dheer) from a nearby village, so he can then rule two villages. Meena resists and insists to her father (Sathyaraj) that it is Rahul who has her fancy. The father relents but the other hulks resist.

From here on, Rahul constantly tries to outsmart the South Indian mob. And as expected in Indian mainstream cinema, he breaks into song-and-dance, gets drunk, blows up jeeps and does a Jim Carryish over-the-top act to get guffaws from a captive audience.

For what is primarily a Hindi film, there's too much spoken Tamil. There are cleverly written lines that ask you not to underestimate the south because it even plays a crucial role in the coalition government, but for the rest of India, a lot of the dialogue is lost in translation. Subtitles would be in order.

After Cocktail and Yeh Jaawani Hai Deeewani, Deepika is once again in superlative form. Shah Rukh's attempts at comedy go from convincing to convoluted. But, for the most part, he lights up the screen with his effervescence.

Note: You may not like the film if Bollywood potboilers leave you cold.