Chaar Din Ki Chandni Review

Tusshar, playing a Rajput, and Kulraj, a Sikhni, are in love. However they have to face some hurdles (actually just one to be precise) before being united. After all Tusshar's dad (Anupam Kher) wants only a Rajput royal girl for his son which means Kulraj has to win his heart before being accepted as his 'bahurani'. One additional layer here is in the form of Kulraj's parents (Om Puri, Farida Jalal) who join the family and hatch a plan by presenting Tusshar in a double role (this time as a Sikh by the name of Pappi Singh) before there is a last and final call of 'all is well'.

A simplistic plotline like this means that it was entirely on director Samir Karnik to include a dozen odd episodes that would make 'Chaar Din Ki Chandni' a fun affair. Well, now even though not all episodes turn out to be equally entertaining, there are times when you do break into a loud laughter. Now that ensures that you don't quite mind the absurdities that have been thrown into the plot because it is these very absurdities that make 'Chaar Din Ki Chandni' a timepass affair.

With close to a dozen characters around that also include a perennial drunkard (Chandrachur Singh), a womaniser (Mukul Dev), a trigger happy man (Sushant Singh), a mother (Amita Raaj, uneven make up but decent comeback), a 'shakki jasoos mama' (Rahul Singh) and a gay wedding planner, 'Chaar Din Ki Chandni' is filled with number of people at any given point in time. This means that tender moments between the lead pair are far and few but one doesn't mind that because despite romance being the starting point of all the mayhem, it's relative absence is hardly felt in this comic set up.

However one does feel that the film's first 15-20 minutes are just about okay. VFX is poor while a few scenes are stretched and don't really induce any laughter (like the one where Kulraj tells her back-story to Tusshar's 'mama'). Also, constant reference to 'royalty' doesn't quite induce laughter each time around. On the other hand the film's pre-climax arrives virtually unannounced since there is no active build up. The climax fight gets into the Priyadarshan zone and especially reminds of 'Hera Pheri' when dozens of Sardars had invaded the villain's territory. Moreover, Pappi Singh's arrival on the scene is a little late in the day.

Still, what keeps the film running is Samir's effort in plugging enough jokes in the middle portion of the film which is the best of the enterprise. Right from the time it is established that Kulraj would be trying to win hearts of Tusshar's family members to the point where he comes on his own as Pappi Singh and almost gets married to Kulraj, the film sees an escalation in momentum. The songs are places well too and by the time 'Kangana' arrives on screen, you go by the flow.

Even otherwise there are certain episodes that you do recount even after the film is through. Whether it is the scene at the gym or the one where brothers try to enter Kulraj's room to Om Puri's entry into the household to his backslapping camaraderie with Anupam Kher to Rahul Singh getting beaten up in the night to Tusshar's loud act in the second half, all of these do ensure that there is good enough 'masala' to keep you smiling.

In a film dominated by largely experienced actors, Tusshar holds on to his own, especially in the second half as a Sikh. In fact at places he is simply unrecognisable. Kulraj is perfect and not just she looks beautiful and brightens up the screen, she also acts ably and does even better than her last film 'Yamla Pagla Deewana'. Chandrachur, Mukul, Sushant and Rahul are just okay whereas Om Puri and Anupam Kher make best use of the platform available to them where they simply dominate the scene.

A decade and a half back, 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' had paved the way for countless films which were made on the same lines. Of course starting from 'Hum Tum Marte Hain' (the Govinda-Urmila starrer which was one of the first to copy the formula) to Samir Karnik's own 'Yamla Pagla Deewana', there have been attempts; some successful and some not so successful. At times a film has completely fallen flat on it's face while at others, the results have been reasonably entertaining. 'Chaar Din Ki Chandni' falls in the latter category. It may not be an out and riotous affair but those two hours do go by in a jiffy!

Rating: ***