I saw Chennai Express in the theater when it opened in August 2013. It's a very funny movie and the audience howled with laughter throughout. The thing is, to understand half of the jokes, you have to have seen Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. To understand the other half of the jokes, you have to understand both Hindi and Tamil – because there are a lot of jokes about language confusion. Fortunately, I was sitting next to an Indian who helped me understand the jokes I missed.
But if you speak neither Hindi nor Tamil, this movie is still highly enjoyable. Just, make sure to see Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge first because this movie is essentially a remake of that movie. My bollywood friends didn't see it that way, but it has the same plot SO, I'm not sure why they didn't make the connection. Especially given that the introduction of our two lovers is exactly the same and uses the same exact same music for comic effect, and for really really obvious foreshadowing, and again, did I mention that the plot is basically the same.
What is the plot? Boy and girl meet on a train and they fall in love. Unfortunately, the girl is engaged to a bad ass guy who is completely wrong for her. Boy has to go to the middle of nowhere rural India and fight the bad ass guy to win the girl. Or, at least that was the plot of Dilwale. Filmed in 1995 by Aditya Chopra. Shahrukh was still young then, only 30 years old. He was still capable of playing a teenager in love.
SRK was 48 when Chennai Express was filmed and he desperately needs to stop playing teenagers in love. The problem is he's not a very good dramatic actor. What he does well is puppy love and comedy and it's kind of unseemly for a middle aged guy to be in puppy love. Which is where Chennai Express comes in.
In Chennai Express, SRK basically gets to redo Dilwaye Dulhania but as a 40 year old who has never had a girlfriend and has never been married (because he grandparents never approved), which means he can play someone near his age and yet still get to fall in love on screen – which is what all us SRK fans want to see.
This remake is silly, but it works precisely because it can be a love story standing on it's own and a remake of a classic and an homage to SRK's career and a send up of his entire comedic career, with elements of a Rajnikanth movie (Tamil language star) all at the same time. Which is why the audience I was in was laughing so hard throughout this movie.
This movie is directed by Rohit Shetty, who I'm not a huge fan of. He's an action director, but his movies tend to lack humanism. So while I am entertained by his movies, I'm also a little annoyed by the morality of it all. I liked this one because Rohit was constrained by SRK romance rules, which require a strict adherence to certain moral codes, which is why our hero has to fight for the girl at the end.. The other thing Rohit did well in this movie was constrain SRK's tendency to overact. I realize now that part of the problem SRK has is that other directors linger on his close ups and if you cut away sooner, it's not as cringe worthy. So good job Rohit. There was only one slight cringe in this movie and Rohit, thankfully, didn't linger on it.
What I liked. Our heroine, played by Deepika Podukone, is kick ass. At no point is she helpless. SRK is really in his element and quite funny in this movie. The songs are fun, but not memorable, so, the music didn't really stick with me in the same way that the music in Dilwale does. Mostly what I remember music wise is the reuse of famous songs from other SRK movies. The scene where SRK and Deepika are singing famous songs but changing the lyrics so that they can discuss their predicament without the Tamil thugs knowing what they are saying is hysterical.
The final, get your ass kicked for love fight scene is well done, even though the product placement elements of it are over the top funny. For instance, at one point SRK is completely covered in blood, except for the label on his undershirt, which is clean and cleverly placed for us to see it so that we know which famous designer made it. And for some reason during the fight scene, you hear the sound of the TARDIS. I was half expecting The Doctor to show up.
Conclusion: This is a very funny movie. But to enjoy it fully and to understand what the film makers were doing, you really do need to see Dilwale Dulhania first.
But if you speak neither Hindi nor Tamil, this movie is still highly enjoyable. Just, make sure to see Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge first because this movie is essentially a remake of that movie. My bollywood friends didn't see it that way, but it has the same plot SO, I'm not sure why they didn't make the connection. Especially given that the introduction of our two lovers is exactly the same and uses the same exact same music for comic effect, and for really really obvious foreshadowing, and again, did I mention that the plot is basically the same.
What is the plot? Boy and girl meet on a train and they fall in love. Unfortunately, the girl is engaged to a bad ass guy who is completely wrong for her. Boy has to go to the middle of nowhere rural India and fight the bad ass guy to win the girl. Or, at least that was the plot of Dilwale. Filmed in 1995 by Aditya Chopra. Shahrukh was still young then, only 30 years old. He was still capable of playing a teenager in love.
SRK was 48 when Chennai Express was filmed and he desperately needs to stop playing teenagers in love. The problem is he's not a very good dramatic actor. What he does well is puppy love and comedy and it's kind of unseemly for a middle aged guy to be in puppy love. Which is where Chennai Express comes in.
In Chennai Express, SRK basically gets to redo Dilwaye Dulhania but as a 40 year old who has never had a girlfriend and has never been married (because he grandparents never approved), which means he can play someone near his age and yet still get to fall in love on screen – which is what all us SRK fans want to see.
This remake is silly, but it works precisely because it can be a love story standing on it's own and a remake of a classic and an homage to SRK's career and a send up of his entire comedic career, with elements of a Rajnikanth movie (Tamil language star) all at the same time. Which is why the audience I was in was laughing so hard throughout this movie.
This movie is directed by Rohit Shetty, who I'm not a huge fan of. He's an action director, but his movies tend to lack humanism. So while I am entertained by his movies, I'm also a little annoyed by the morality of it all. I liked this one because Rohit was constrained by SRK romance rules, which require a strict adherence to certain moral codes, which is why our hero has to fight for the girl at the end.. The other thing Rohit did well in this movie was constrain SRK's tendency to overact. I realize now that part of the problem SRK has is that other directors linger on his close ups and if you cut away sooner, it's not as cringe worthy. So good job Rohit. There was only one slight cringe in this movie and Rohit, thankfully, didn't linger on it.
What I liked. Our heroine, played by Deepika Podukone, is kick ass. At no point is she helpless. SRK is really in his element and quite funny in this movie. The songs are fun, but not memorable, so, the music didn't really stick with me in the same way that the music in Dilwale does. Mostly what I remember music wise is the reuse of famous songs from other SRK movies. The scene where SRK and Deepika are singing famous songs but changing the lyrics so that they can discuss their predicament without the Tamil thugs knowing what they are saying is hysterical.
The final, get your ass kicked for love fight scene is well done, even though the product placement elements of it are over the top funny. For instance, at one point SRK is completely covered in blood, except for the label on his undershirt, which is clean and cleverly placed for us to see it so that we know which famous designer made it. And for some reason during the fight scene, you hear the sound of the TARDIS. I was half expecting The Doctor to show up.
Conclusion: This is a very funny movie. But to enjoy it fully and to understand what the film makers were doing, you really do need to see Dilwale Dulhania first.
