The film had everything that would make it an ultimate success. It’s based in a beautiful palace of Rajasthan filled with funny, quirky, weird and mad characters, some Rajputs and others Punjabis. The director is the one who tickled our funny bones last year with Yamla Pagla Deewana. But alas! Chaar Din Ki Chandni disappoints and how!
The story of the movie: Veer (Tusshar Kapoor) is a Rajput prince who falls in love with Chandni (Kulraj Randhawa) while studying in London. When he returns back to his hometown Khimgarh for the marriage of his sister Divya (Shruti Sharma), he gets Chandni along too. But Veer is so petrified of his father (Anupam Kher) that he lies to him that he and Chandni are just friends and that she’s a journalist who has come to experience and cover a royal wedding. The troubles don’t end here. Veer’s brothers (Sushant Singh, Chandrachur Singh, Mukul Dev) get smitten by Chandni. Veer, on the other hand, tells many more lies to cover up his first lie. How he gets out of the mess is what the film is all about.
When you see actors like Anupam Kher, Johny Lever, Sushant Singh, Chandrachur Singh, Mukul Dev, Amit Mistry and many others together in the film’s promos and first look, you definitely expect the film to be a laugh riot. And sure enough, the characters that these actors essay are interesting and funny enough. But sadly, the screenplay fails to give them justice and so does their dialogues.
So what works? The few comic moments and also the smart execution of several scenes is what save the film from becoming a disaster. For instance, Mukul Dev’s dream sequence (asking Kulraj for 50 rupees change) was just too good. Also the sequence in gym raises lot of laughs! Then the ’50 paise ka sms nahi bhej sakta tha’ part of the climax! The arrival of Om Puri at the palace fort infuses life into the film. However, the film’s trump card – Tusshar’s unrecognizable Sardar act was just okay. He does a great job, no doubt, but as said before, the dialogues given to him were just alright. The climax is action-packed but instantly reminded one of Yamla Pagla Deewana and Hera Pheri.
The actors give in their best which again helps this otherwise mediocre flick. Tusshar Kapoor was weird in beginning scenes (the way he says ‘sniffer dog’…eew!) but came on track later on. And although the script let him down, he was too good as Puppy Sardar! But sad to see that after the success of Shor In The City and The Dirty Picture, Chaar Din Ki Chandni will prove to be a blot in his report card. Hopefully, his upcoming films – Kya Super Kool Hai Hum, Shootout At Wadala, Bhaiyyaji Superhit and Shashant Shah’s next – will reconsolidate his position!
Kulraj Randhawa looks like a million bucks and the reason why this 2-stars-worth-film gets an extra star! Her smile, her ada, her dance, her antics…everything about her is excellent! Hope to see her in a lot of (better) films! Anupam Kher fails to raise laughs with his long speeches in English. But his last-minute heroic arrival will be loved by masses! It was a pleasure to see Anita Raj after a hiatus. Johny Lever was hilarious in his paan-addictive character! Chandrachur Singh proves he deserves to be seen. Sushant Singh was as usual rocking and so was Mukul Dev. The latter was damn funny in the gym sequence. Om Puri (Chandni’s dad), as said before, does a great job. The manner in which he takes control of situations as soon he arrives was damn impressive. The actor has often complained that he has no choice but to accept inconsequential roles because of a dearth of good roles for him. But this is a role he should be proud of. Rahul Singh (Mamusa) too raises laughs with his antics. Shruti Sharma was okay but the portion involving her strange fetish wasn’t treated well. The rest – Farida Jalal, Amit Mistry, Puneet Issar, Hemant Pandey, Johny Lever’s son etc – were strictly okay.
Half-a-dozen music composers have composed songs in this film but only 2 tracks work – O Meri Chandni and Kangna. Sanjoy Chowdhury’s background score has always been flawless but this time it was too loud in several scenes. Kabir Lal’s cinematography was fine and captures the palace fort very well. Babaji’s plot has all the ingredients of a full-on entertainer. But his story-screenplay and Amit Masurkar and Nishant Hada’s dialogues turn out to be damb squib. Same goes for Samir Karnik’s direction. As said before, some scenes are indeed very well executed and scripted. But the rest of the scenes wee dull or rather just okay. Tusshar’s brothers misunderstanding Rahul Singh as Puppy Sardar and bashing him up isn’t funny enough. Today, audiences pay 200-250 bucks for a movie ticket and this is not the kind of entertainment they are looking for. Hope Samir Karnik brings out the Yamla Pagla Deewana magic in his upcoming film!
Few good scenes of the film:
Veer-Chandni at the fort temple
Chandni phones her parents
Mukul Dev’s dream sequence
The ‘Divya beds’ scene
The sequence in the gym
The song ‘O Meri Chandni’
The intermission point
Rahul Singh falling off the ladder and Veer-Chandni making fun of him
Puppy Sardar’s entry
On the whole, Chaar Din Ki Chandni is a golden opportunity lost! The film had all the masala required for an entertainer but the result is okay and bland! The film is shot in breathtaking locales, boasts of fine performances and not to forget has Kulraj Randhawa in all her glory which are the film’s plus points. With stiff competition from Kahaani, Chaar Din Ki Chandni will definitely have a tough time at the box office. So unfortunate!
My rating-** ½
P.S.: It was reported that Ajay Devgn has done voiceover during the beginning of the film. But the voice seemed more like Samir Karnik’s than Ajay’s!