Review: Char Din Ki Chandni lacks the LOL moment

Bringing Om Puri, Anupam Kher, Johnny Lever, Farida Jalal, Chandrachur Singh, Sushant Singh, Mukul Dev together isn't something all directors can manage. So one presumes director Samir Karnik has a special treat lined up for comedy enthusiasts. And of course, the big fat Indian wedding is the perfect premise.

But then, Char Din Ki Chandni isn't about the fracas which ensues a few days before the wedding. It isn't about dysfunctional relationships in large families. Neither does it tell us about the so-called royal families of Rajasthan. It's a romance of sorts set against the backdrop of the desert, which according to the producers is one giant mishmash of garish sets, guns, pistols, a few women sporting the obligatory ghaghra-cholis etc.

Samir Karnik, whose film Yamla Pagla Deewana released just a year ago and fared reasonably okay, especially in Punjab obviously decided to take the theme further. This time around he's put in minimal effort into the screenplay and concentrated on getting the stalwarts together.

After all, if Anupam Kher starts brandishing a rifle every few minutes, launches into long monologues about his royal lineage and then cracks up with laughter you must necessarily do the same.

This is a film which was intended to be a farce aiming for moments which have the audience in splits or at the least breaking into a smile. The sound engineer has given us very convenient pauses for the same. In the same vein as Hum Tum Shabana, Char Din Ki Chandni lacks a single LOL moment. There are no gags which can take the film forward.

Unless of course, people slapping each other (accompanied with adequately artificial sound effects) at the rate of at least two slaps per reel is your idea of weekend entertainment.

But then Kher isn't the only gun-toting weirdo. Johnny Lever with his absurdly fake one-inch thick black moustache isn't far behind. The two friends fall out because one of their sons is marrying outside the Rajput community.

Kher's family (luckily the director has concentrated on just one family) comprises losers, retards and sexually frustrated men who exploit the women servants employed in the family. The royal lineage has four descendants to take it forward: a lecherous, exploitative brother, the chronic drunk (Chandrachur Singh) the angry old man (Sushant Singh) and the stud who just-returned from United Kingdom Tusshar Kapoor (Veer).

Tusshar returns with his girlfriend, to attend his sister's wedding conveniently forgetting the conservative ethos which dominates his family home. So he pretends Chandni (Kulraj Randhawa) is a journalist who is here to give an insider's view of the royal nuptials.

When there is jealousy and intrigue there's bound to be suspicion, so Rahul Singh (the brilliant RJ from Tere Bin Laden) prowls around the house spying on Veer and his plasters increase with each disastrous attempt. The scene with Tusshar and Kulraj making fun of his fake limp is probably on of the most inane scenes done by Tusshar.

If the men in this 'royal family' are lewd the women aren't much better.  The bride-to-be is pre-occupied with ordering sex toys on the internet. The general agenda was to depict the debauchery behind the grandeur. Though there are a couple of categories which the director has skipped; the child molester, the rapist, but then who knows? He's probably saving them up for the serial.

If there is a relief from the asinine jokers wandering around on screen it is Tusshar and Kulraj. In the second half Tusshar metamorphoses into the crude loud-mouthed Paappi Sardar but it's a convincing performance. Kulraj is blessed with a charming smile and together they have a teeny bopper cutesy appeal. Quite an achievement for two actors pushing 30 or more.

The background score is unnecessarily loud, melodramatic and over the top. It was probably the director's diktat since Sanjoy Chowdhury is a talented composer.

This film is best avoided unless you want to see how the classic Yash Chopra hit song "Chandni, Tu Meri Chandni" has been ruthlessly murdered.

Rediff Rating: