Chalo Dilli Movie Review

Star Cast of Chalo Dilli : Vinay Pathak, Lara Dutta, Akshay Kumar, Yana Gupta, Brijendra Kala

Director: Shashant Shah

Singers: Raja Hasan, Sukhwinder Singh, June Banerjee, Neeraj Shridhar, Kamal Heer, Natalie Di Luccio

Films like Band Bajaa Baraat and No One Killed Jassica, which were released in latter half of 2010 made the rest of the country and the world, have a look into the culture and modern day life of the Indian capital, Delhi. Challo Dilli, which talks of a journey that starts from Mumbai, goes to Jaipur and then ends in Delhi also has something similar to show to the world.

Despite the fact that the basic concept of the film seem to have been drawn from a couple of foreign films, the director has managed to add an Indian flavor to it, which makes people connect with the film. Despite the fact that the film is influenced by some foreign films, this Indian touch has made it look different and original. There are many situations in the film, which make it look like a very realistic story. There are a few drawbacks in the film as well, but an overall on-screen attempt by Vinay Pathak with Challo Dilli has been very successful.

Still the director needed to be a little careful because when you have so many characters in the film, some characters turn out to be unrealistic. The director has made the same mistake while making Challo Dilli. The worst part is that despite having so many characters as its part, the film does not seem to be as dramatic as it should have been to make the viewer get attracted to it.

The movie talks about Mihika [Lara Dutta], an employee of a multinational financial company in Mumbai, who has to go to Delhi to meet her husband. She misses her flight and encounters a fat and loud person known as Manu [Vinay Pathak], who owns a small shop in the Karol Bagh area of Delhi.

Mihika and Manu are exactly opposite to one another. Whereas Manu is loud, insensitive and rude, Mihika is caring and soft. The lady is also not amused about the way the man keeps spitting at places. To the horror of Mihika, she gets struck with this man and has to spend time with him as both of them travels through, train air and road.

The way director Shashant Shah has used humor in this film is an indication of his capabilities as a director. Unlike humor in most Bollywood movies, despite it being loud, the humor in Challo Dilli does not seem to be vulgar. Yet, even though Vinay makes you laugh, there are portions in the film, especially in the second hour, where his character is not at all convincing. The jokes cracked by Vinay in the second hour don’t seem to charm you in any way. These jokes, especially in the second hour, don’t excite the viewer and this seems like a big fault both at the level of writing and direction. Vinay with his capabilities as an actor, has tried to overcome these drawbacks and hold the film together and he has even succeeded in doing so to a large extent.

Though some songs look good both in listening and watching individually, they look more like item numbers that have been forced on the film and have no connection with the real story. Again, whereas in a road movie like Challo Dilli, the cinematography has to be of a top quality to attract the viewer, the cinematography in this film is rather ordinary and does not add to making the film better.

In front of the camera, Vinay Pathak is amazing in the film. The way he has delivered the dialogues, makes you believe in actual sense that he is someone from Karol Bagh area of Delhi. Lara Dutta is also quite convincing and looks like a women from elite class from Mumbai, who looks down upon a man from Karol Bagh. Though there are a host of other actors in the film, Brijendra Kala, in the character of the ticket checker leaves the maximum impact. Akshay Kumar also looks good in his small role.

There is something nice about Challo Dilli. Some terrific moments, makes the film quite interesting in parts. But had some work been done on writing, this could have been a much better film.