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CHALTE CHALTE - (Reviewed By Komal Nahta)

Director: Aziz Mirza
Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee and Lilette Dubey
Producer: Dreamz Unlimited and UTV Productions
Music Director: Jatin Lalit and Aadesh Shrivastava
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar

RATING: 5.5/10

Dreamz Unlimited and UTV Motion Pictures’ Chalte Chalte is a breezy, romantic entertainer in the first half, which turns, in the second half, into an emotional story of the romantic pair who are now husband and wife. Raj (Shah Rukh Khan) and Priya (Rani Mukerji) meet each other in strange circumstances and their romance blossoms in even stranger conditions. They get married but after one year, the two who could not have even dreamt of living without each other, drift apart and ultimately separate. The marriage is about to break when Priya decides to leave Raj and the country, but......

The storyline resembles that of the recently-released Saathiya and this is one major drawback of the film. However, this weakness is covered up to a great extent because of the difference in treatment of the same subject. The first half is endearingly light and the second half has a few emotional scenes but those are so brilliantly written, executed and enacted that they would draw sobs from the womenfolk and even soft-hearted men.

There’s another weakness – actually, it’s a flaw. The couple’s quarrels and fights are not shown to build up over a period of time and, therefore, the split appears abrupt, even contrived to an extent. In fact, the viewer wonders what instigated Raj to behave the way he did with his wife, ultimately leading to the break-up, because the reasons for his actions are not completely convincing. The more discerning viewer would hold this in his mind all through the second half and that would definitely come in the way of his enjoyment of the otherwise excellent climax.

But save for this mistake (which, incidentally, would be resented by some while being overlooked by others who would get hooked on to the sheer simplicity of the characters and also applaud the presentation of the mundaneness of daily life), story and screenplay writers Aziz Mirza and Robin Bhatt have done a praiseworthy job. They’ve been splendidly aided by dialogue writers Rumi Jafri, Pramod Sharma and Ashish Kariya. For, the comedy and earthiness in the drama are born, to a large extent, out of the pens of the dialogue writers. On the other hand, credit for the emotional scenes would go more to the screenplay writers.

The pre-interval portion has some fresh and truly enjoyable moments. However, narrating the love story through flashbacks of Raj and Priya interspersed with conversations between their friends is a bit too irritating. After interval, the screenplay takes a dip at places but the last three to four reels are marvellous. The angle of the locket in the end is a masterstroke.

As Raj, Shah Rukh Khan delivers one of the best performances of his career. If he is endearingly cute in light scenes, he is mind-blowing in the emotional scenes of the climax. The actor may not have looked his best but he more than makes up for the lapse with his superb show of talent. Effortlessly, he glides through his role and leaves an indelible mark in almost every scene.

Rani Mukerji is another powerhouse of talent. Looking glamorous as never before, she delivers a sensitive performance that makes her character completely believable. It must be added here that these two actors succeed, to quite an extent, in camouflaging the defects/weaknesses mentioned above by their sheer brilliance and calibre.

Jas Arora is suitably restrained. Satish Shah is lovely as usual. Lillette Dubey once again excels. Jayshree T. lends good support. Johny Lever does his bit of comedy ably. Jameel Khan (traffic policeman) is very good. Vishwajeet Pradhan, Naveen Bawa, Ashish Kapoor, Howard Rosemeyer, Meghna Malik, Madhavi Chopra, Vani Tripathi, Juhi Jawaid and Bobby Darling (Pankaj Sharma) are fair as Shah Rukh’s friends. Aditya Pancholi is alright in a friendly appearance. Rajeev Verma, Hyder Ali (postman), Suresh Bhagwat, Dinyar Tirandaz, Suresh Menon, Masood Akhtar, Govind Khatri, Gagan Gupta, Aafaq and the others lend able support.

Aziz Mirza’s direction is sensitive. With his handling of light and emotional scenes with equal ease, he gives the impression of being a man who has watched life from close quarters.

Music is excellent. ‘Suno na’, ‘Gumshuda’ (both Aadesh Shrivastava) and ‘Tauba’ (Jatin Lalit) are the best songs and their picturisations and choreography (Farah Khan) are also lovely. ‘Layee vee na gayee’ (Aadesh) is also very appealing. Lyrics (Javed Akhtar) of ‘Layee vee na gayee’ and the title track are worth mentioning. Background music (Aadesh) goes well with the varying moods in the film. Ashok Mehta’s cinematography is first-rate. His camera caresses the characters and the locations with care and love. Foreign locations are quite an eyeful. Technically, very good.

On the whole, Chalte Chalte will prove a hit in the Overseas territories. In India, its box-office perfromance will be above average.

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RELEASE DATE: 13th June 2003

REVIEWED BY KOMAL NAHTA