The promos of ’36 CHINA TOWN’ say, ’Murder, Mysteries, Lies, fun. Welcome to the party at...36 China Town!’ Thats quite true. There is a murder, there are mysteries, there are lies and there’s quite bit of fun. So here I say it again, Welcome to 36 China Town. The movie’s concept is simpler than any bollywood film: There’s a murder, there are suspects, there’s a cool detective and the murderer is convicted finally.
Sonia(Isha Koppikar) is a casino owner in Goa. Her 2 year old son, Vicky is kidnapped but since the kidnapper loses the baby, Sonia thinks Vicky’s lost (very much like baby’s day out). Sonia lives in a bunglow, 36 China Town, all alone. When she realises Vicky’s missing she is very disturbed and announces a grand prize of Rs.25 lakh to the person who returns Vicky to her.
Raj(Shahid Kapoor) is the chokra who leaves home and goes to Mumbai to become an actor. But the director demands Rs.10 lakh to cast Raj in his film. Priya(Kareena Kapoor) is the chokri who leaves home to settle with her lover who later cheats her. Both Raj and Priya find the baby Vicky roaming about in the streets and make a deal:Raj will take Rs.10 lakh nd Priya will take the remaining 15 lakh after getting 25 lakh from Sonia. Wprking together both of them fall in love. (Wasn’t that needless to say? We’ve known bollywood since we were born.)
Paresh Rawal and wife Payal Rohatgi are owners of Hotel Alfred in Goa. Paresh Rawal is a gambling addict who has mortgaged four of his five hotels in Sonia’s Casino. Hotel Alfred is the only one left which is also lost. Enraged, Payal goes to 36 china town to talk to Sonia about it.
Jhonny Lever and wife Tanaaz also lose a lot of money in the Casino and Johnny Lever also reaches 36 China Town to beg for his money. Raj and Priya also reach there to return the baby. Rocky(Upen Patel) is a lover romeo who loves women. He is Sonia’s friend and also reaches there somehow(how all of them reach there is a point too technical to explain). But each of them seperately find Sonia’s dead corpse and Akshaye the smart N cool detective holds all of them as key suspects. And then you’ll see what happens... Nah! I’m not gonna reveal who the murderer is. That would spoil all the fun.
One thing bad about this film is that its neither a perfect thriller nor a perfect comedy. Perhaps this a new trend to make films of two genre. Abbas-Mustan are known to be the best thriller film makers. But this one’s a thriller with punches of comedy. There are scenes which make you laugh out loud and there are some nail biting scenes too. The thrill and the suspense are adulterated by frequent comic scenes which are well done by Jhonny and Paresh. Akkshaye’s acting is the best. He portrays perfectly as a cool smart detective with brilliant facial expressions. Shahid and Kareena are alright. Paresh and Jhonny are good at comic scenes. Payal, Isha and Tanaaz are average.
As for the music, I personally dont enjoy Himesh Reshamiya’s music with his ’aaa’ and ’oooo’ and his nasal singing. ’Ashiqui mein Teri’ has good beats and music. ’Mujhe tujhmein’, ’Rock ya body’ and ’24x7’ are okay. The songs between the exciting scenes dont kill the movie and are not very boring.
The cinamatography is brilliant. It gives a tough competition to Rang De Basanti. The visuals and the colours and the movement are a treat to watch.
All in all, 36 China Town is not as good as we expected it to be. But it does provide adequate entertainment. The hype and the music will help it to rake in good bucks.
Please rate and comment on my review as it took me half an hour to write it. PLEASE!