I have always had a thing for movies that receive bad feedback both from critics and audience. That was the case with "Chandni Chowk to China", a Nikhil Advani movie, featuring Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Chia Hui Lui and Roger Yuan. I postponed watching it until last night, when I was in enough good mood to swallow any aberration.
Believe it or not, the flick managed to make me smile several times though it is a failure indeed. And I still wonder why, as it could have been a good commercial movie. The plot is clicheic, but afterall we all engage in the stories where the goofy, pathetic hero goes through an initiation process in order to get his revenge or to become the savior of the world. The fighting scenes are well done, even if exaggerated, but let’s not forget that for more rocambolesque jumps through the trees, "Crouching tiger hidden dragon" took an Oscar. Akshay is doing his best not to cross the line into the ridicule acting, Deepika, as the evil twin, is a pleasure for the eye with her almost manga look, Roger Yuan is so cute speaking Hindi... The cinematography, the editing, the soundtrack are all decent...so why all the money spent in such a super-production did not prove worthy? Why the two different nations combination did not work as it should?
The potential for a truly good comedy was huge. Remember Rush Hour? Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan's charismas were mind-blowing and highly entertaining. This is what "Made in China" (informal alternative title) lacks: the chemistry between the Hindi and Chinese actors. It was too soon to mix things at such huge level. Maybe with a smaller production in first place would have prepared better the audiences.
Lord Ganesh could not find the magic way to reveal himself through a Chinese potato. Yet.
1 comment:
I think that is *the* best part with Hindi commercial movies. Pick up a good flick, never mind if its stupid ,but it surely makes you smile & laugh, even if you are tired, fatigued or in the worst of moods!
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