.Oh god! What were they thinking ? That is the only thing that came to my mind after the movie got over .Did not they think twice before going ahead with this project .How someone with a common sense could okay this script in the first place .After the refreshingly beautiful Kal ho naa ho ,Nikhil Advani faltered with the disastrous Salaam E ishq .And would expect him to learn from the mistakes he made during SEI but Chandni Chowk To China is a film that makes SEI look like a classic .The film does not have a single redeeming factor! This one is a royal mess .
It somehow reminded me of another Akki movie Talaash which was a major stinker .Both the movies bear uncanny resemblence in terms of plot ,locations ,action and screenplay .Incidentally Talash started the year 2003 on a horrible note for it was the first release of that year .CCTC too achieves the same being the first major release of the year 2009..
Contrary to the title ,CCTC actually starts in China and then moves back to Delhi .Akshay Kumar is a chef in Chandani Chowk .His life takes a turn when a group arrives from China and he is led to believe that he was their group leader in the previous birth..He flies to China and the [mis]adventure starts .....
The film actually starts on a decent note .The description of Great Wall of China followed by a battle was quite well done . I expected the drama to reach an all time high with the introduction of Akki but the movie just falls flat .The comic track is just so forced and does not quite raise the laughter .Its simply unbearable .
Comedy has always been Akshay's forte but surprisingly he totally looks disintrested throughout the proceeding .Agreed the script is totally crap but Akshay has this ability of raising above the script and dominating the screen with his unmatchable comic timing /persona but here he is just not in his elements .
The Mithun-Akshay track is another sore point .Its highly irritating.Take that scene where Mithun makes Akshay remember about the past and how he raised him .Its supposed to be an emotional one but proves to be an unintentional comic moment ..To put it simply the film makes you laugh where you are supposed to cry and vice-versa.
The film is bit intresting after the introduction of Deepika ..She looks like a diva and performs much better than her first two earlier movies .The scene in the airport where she makes Akshay dance is quite hilarious .Ditto for that scene where Akshay is about to close the luggage inside the plane.The film was actually bearable before the interval and I still had a ray of hope from the movie when the intermission card was flashed .
Alas! The film is a royal mess after the intermission.The film makes absolutely no sense from this point .Forget logic ,it defies even common sense .The ending is equally terrible .Its hard to believe Nikhil actually directed KHNH . And he threatens to return with a sequel 'Chandani Chowk to Africa ' towards the end ..Scary thought .
Action is pathetic .In fact Akshay movies in the past viz the Khiladi series had far better action .The film is actually a Z grade movie which Akshay used to do in the 90s in a grab of Warner Bros production .The 55 crore budget does not reflect anywhere in the film .Everything is so tacky and outdated .The cinematography is not upto the mark .
Music is another weak point .Barring title track ,the remaining songs are sure to break your ear plug .Even the beautiful Tere Naina has been placed so badly in the film , thus killing the impact .
Akshay Kumar disappoints .He is not funny this time.Its high time he leaves the comic genre for its getting repititive and boring .And even his much hyped comeback to the action genre is nothing to rave or rant about .Action is actually worse than Tashan here.
Deepika does quite well .Mithun is quite okay .Ranvir shorey is passable .
Overall a total disaster .Avoid it!
0.5/5