Chennai Express – Don’t Analyze, Just Laugh.

Cast: Shah Rukh Khan , Deepika Padukone,Nikitin Dheer, Priyamani, Sathyaraj, Upen Patel, Manorama
Producer: Gauri Khan, Karim Morani, Ronnie Screwwala, Siddharth Roy Kapoor
Director: Rohit Shetty
Story: K Subhash
Screenplay: Yunus Sajawal, Robin Bhatt
Music Director: Vishal Dadlani , Shekhar Ravjiani
Running time: 140 minutes
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Action , Masala Entertainer
Language: Hindi &Tamil
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZGR5Sj1Bfo
Rating: ***.5(3.5)
Review: Birjis Adeni Rashed

(The aim and intention of my reviews is to critique and recommend while not revealing the whole story to enjoy the movie when seen. But minor details have been divulged for a proper review!)

Let me start with a positive note and say the fact-  Chennai Express  was a funny entertainer with a lot of laugh out loud moments like a laughathon.  Yes it was very  silly, predictable, slapstick, cheesy, a no brainer but will have to say yet funny!

The movie has Sharukh Khan playing Rahul, this time more a legit 40 year old;) who after his grandfathers death, boards the Chennai Express to supposedly immerse his ashes in Rameshwaram a town is Tamilnadu as per grandpas wishes. Parodying the train scene from DilwaleDulhania Leh Jayenge, SRK helps board the damsel in distress Deepika Padokone ( Meena ) and the Shrek size  goons who are following her. Meena………….Sundaram  is running away from her father ,a local Don of Komban  who wants to marry her off to another strong Goon for expanding his power!  That is the nonexistent plot, story, and the movie in a few lines.

 The movie also has a parody of references/ dialogs  from  Sharukh Khans other movies, it has a lot of Tamil spoken without subtitles; It has  hilarious singsong conversations in tune with SRK songs  to communicate  ingeniously without the suspicion of  the Tamil speaking goons.  Yes all this is juvenile and silly but yet it’s funny and incidentally clean and kid friendly comedy unlike other movies which sometimes tend to get vulgar in order to be slapstick comedy entertainers. 

 While listing more details one can’t forget the  scenic locales and colorful sets;  beautiful south Indian sarees , heavy accent and language mishmash guffaws, good and bad mix of music and songs by Vishal-Shekar, dramatic action scenes of typical Rohit Shetty movies, and   pretty presence of deepika who has shades of good acting and over acting, and lastly Shahrukh Khans histrionics and overacting, which  makes the movie entertaining!

I think the movie is doing well irrespective of its simple no brainer comedy because of  the masala movie formula,   the timing of its launch on Eid with audiences  seeking Eid ka shandaar entertainment ; and finally it’s an  entertaining  clean comedy one can take the kids to theatres to watch!

 If you don’t dissect and analyze the details, it’s worth a watch for some laughs.


{p.s- If you watch this movie in the company of  good South Indian friends, like I did, you will enjoy it more ;) }

Check out  another masala movie with the same lead of Sharukh Khan and Deepika Padukone- " Om Shanti Om ".  http://bollywoodfilmcritic.blogspot.com/2007/11/om-shanti-om-spoof-on-bollywood.html