Many Hindi movie plots involve an actor and actress who are forced to travel together and who realize along the way that they’ve fallen in love. Friday’s release “Chalo Dilli” (Lets Go to Delhi) is also based on a journey–but not of the romantic kind. Instead, it’s a light-hearted “air, road and rail” trip story that brings together two people from very different economic backgrounds.
Mihika, played by actor Lara Dutta, is an uptown investment banker from Mumbai, who misses her flight to Delhi. In Jaipur, she meets a local salesman, Manu Gupta, played by actor Vinay Pathak, who has a small shop in Delhi’s squarely middle class Karol Bagh, who also needs to get back to Delhi.
The two travel together back to the capital, passing through small towns and dhabas along the way, and along the way Mihika discovers India, which seems like a lot to accomplish in a journey of less than 300 kilometers. Here’s what the critics had to say:
Writing in the Mumbai newspaper Daily News and Analysis, Mihir Fadnaviscalled the film an “emotional stream of senselessness.”
“‘Chalo Dilli’ surprisingly opens with wildly unintended farce, but its second half is meditative, chewing on the unconventional–it is a tremendously constricting example of how we as humans are supposed to watch Hindi movies,” Mr. Fadnavis wrote.
Mr. Fadnavis was unimpressed by Ms. Dutta’s performance, calling her “shrill and repugnant.”
He recommends the film only for its “mildly interesting” first half but advises the viewers to leave during the interval.
The Times of India’s Nikhat Kazmi gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of five. Though Ms. Kazmi thought that the film had some shortcomings in story and vision, she wrote that “the film has so much soul, specially in the climax” that it made up for the drawbacks.
“The narrative has a sweet simplicity which transports you into the onscreen journey and makes you a willing witness to the bond-building between ‘bhaisaheb’ and ‘behenji’,” Ms. Kazmi added.
She seemed to like the performances of both the lead actors but said that it was “fringe characters too who add spunk to the road show.”
Taran Adarsh’s review on the movie Web site Bollywood Hungama called the film a “decent watch” and said that what makes the film appealing is that the audience can easily identify with the situations the characters experience.
Mr. Adarsh said that the high point of the film was the comic timing of the lead actors, particularly Mr. Pathak, whom he called “the soul of the enterprise.”
“The humor isn’t slapstick or the mindless type,” he added.
As for Ms. Dutta’s performance, he wrote, “Lara gets the character right and though there are a few rough edges in her performance, there’s no denying that she’s extremely convincing as a lady who belongs to the upper crust and who absolutely loathes people like Vinay.”
“The film has some terrific moments, but the writing could’ve been more persuasive towards the post-interval portions,” he added.
But there were some to whom the film didn’t appeal much.
News portal Rediff’s review of the film gave it only one-and-half stars out of five, describing it as an “arduous journey to nowhere.” The review said that while the story of self-discovery through a journey is an interesting premise, such films work if every kilometer of the journey throws up quirky characters and humorous touching incidents.”
But the film doesn’t manage to do that, Rediff said, adding that “‘Chalo Dilli’ has its heart in the right place. But everything else isn’t.”
Mihika, played by actor Lara Dutta, is an uptown investment banker from Mumbai, who misses her flight to Delhi. In Jaipur, she meets a local salesman, Manu Gupta, played by actor Vinay Pathak, who has a small shop in Delhi’s squarely middle class Karol Bagh, who also needs to get back to Delhi.
The two travel together back to the capital, passing through small towns and dhabas along the way, and along the way Mihika discovers India, which seems like a lot to accomplish in a journey of less than 300 kilometers. Here’s what the critics had to say:
Writing in the Mumbai newspaper Daily News and Analysis, Mihir Fadnaviscalled the film an “emotional stream of senselessness.”
“‘Chalo Dilli’ surprisingly opens with wildly unintended farce, but its second half is meditative, chewing on the unconventional–it is a tremendously constricting example of how we as humans are supposed to watch Hindi movies,” Mr. Fadnavis wrote.
Mr. Fadnavis was unimpressed by Ms. Dutta’s performance, calling her “shrill and repugnant.”
He recommends the film only for its “mildly interesting” first half but advises the viewers to leave during the interval.
The Times of India’s Nikhat Kazmi gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of five. Though Ms. Kazmi thought that the film had some shortcomings in story and vision, she wrote that “the film has so much soul, specially in the climax” that it made up for the drawbacks.
“The narrative has a sweet simplicity which transports you into the onscreen journey and makes you a willing witness to the bond-building between ‘bhaisaheb’ and ‘behenji’,” Ms. Kazmi added.
She seemed to like the performances of both the lead actors but said that it was “fringe characters too who add spunk to the road show.”
Taran Adarsh’s review on the movie Web site Bollywood Hungama called the film a “decent watch” and said that what makes the film appealing is that the audience can easily identify with the situations the characters experience.
Mr. Adarsh said that the high point of the film was the comic timing of the lead actors, particularly Mr. Pathak, whom he called “the soul of the enterprise.”
“The humor isn’t slapstick or the mindless type,” he added.
As for Ms. Dutta’s performance, he wrote, “Lara gets the character right and though there are a few rough edges in her performance, there’s no denying that she’s extremely convincing as a lady who belongs to the upper crust and who absolutely loathes people like Vinay.”
“The film has some terrific moments, but the writing could’ve been more persuasive towards the post-interval portions,” he added.
But there were some to whom the film didn’t appeal much.
News portal Rediff’s review of the film gave it only one-and-half stars out of five, describing it as an “arduous journey to nowhere.” The review said that while the story of self-discovery through a journey is an interesting premise, such films work if every kilometer of the journey throws up quirky characters and humorous touching incidents.”
