Chup Chup Ke Review

Priyadarshan has become a brand name when it comes to delivering rustic comedies with a dash of romance thrown in sumptuously. His latest venture `Chup Chup Ke' shall add to his Hit List as this three hour long humor-caper gives ample scope for fun-n-frolics. In other words, it's a clean lighthearted film that has a decent chance of scoring at the Box Office.

Jeetu (Shahid Kapoor) is neck deep in debt in a small hamlet close to the sea. Everyone is after him and his family. Out of comical desperation he decides to end his life by jumping in the sea of troubles. The life insurance left by him would have been sufficient for his father, a school teacher (Anupam Kher) to repay all the moneylenders. But somehow fate had fishy plans for him. He is netted by a loser fisherman's servant Bandya (Rajpal Yadav). Gundya (Paresh Rawal) himself owes money to a rich Gujarati moneylender Chavan (Om Puri) and he was hardly pleased with the prospect of another burden (Read Shahid Kapoor).

The trail of confusion leads to Jeetu and Bandya being kept as hostages by Chavan till the time Gundya returned the money he owed. While Bandya gets into hilarious butter-finger-situations as he goes about doing the daily household chores prescribed by the nutty manager (Shakti Kapoor), Jeetu (who had been circumstantially forced to pretend as deaf-n-dumb) catches the fancy of Chavan's angelic niece Shruti (Kareena Kapoor) who can't speak in real. Enter Mangal (Suniel Shetty), Shruti's brother whose only goal in life is to find a suitable match for his sister. On the other hand, Jeetu's fiance Pooja (Sushma Reddy) had started living with his parents as his widow. In other words, the punch line for `Chup Chup Ke'..Love meets confusion meets love..Is truly apt as it's a whirlwind of a story that keeps you in a spin. But the best part is that all the versions are cinematically plausible and dealt with reasonable efficiency.

Shahid Kapoor as Jeetu shines. This is by far his best performance till date. He had ample scope for several shades like comedy, romance and emotional touches. And the good news for Shahid kapoor fans is that he sparkles in all of them. Kareena Kapoor as Shruti had little to do in the film as she is not meant to speak and her screen space is minimal as well. Yet, it must be said that her pairing with Shahid looks cute and somehow, both of them bring out the best in each other. The real hero for me was Rajpal Yadav as Bandya. This diminutive actor is a powerhouse of talent. His comic timing is exceptional. In fact, he outsmarted both Shahid and Paresh Rawal in several scenes.

Paresh Rawal is in his comic element once again with a different kind a get up as compared with his `Malamaal Weekly' act. Rawal and Rajpal combination is deadly and the screen time shared by the two leaves the audience into splits. Suniel Shetty plays the elder brother to the hilt and also shakes a leg or two in a couple of numbers. Neha Dhupiya as Kareena's supportive cousin does her part efficiently while Sushma Reddy in the desolate widow act looks a sorry figure and it is difficult to distinguish the glam-doll-turned-behenji. As for Anupam Kher, he does his `Saraansh' act of the poor helpless father with a lot of conviction and honesty.

Himesh Reshamiya's music carries a couple of chartbusters. `Majlis tere ishk ki' is truly special. Cinematography by Thirru is fine as no great landscapes are needed in a Priyadarshan film anyways. Dialogues by Neeraj Vohra (Director of `Phir Hera Pheri' that is releasing today as well amidst house full boards) cracks up the audience with its sheer spontaneity. Finally, Priyadarshan's direction has a stamp of consciously-being-different. The progression of the film and the fact that the unpredictability-quotient is maintained goes in the favor of the film. But what goes against Priyan is the slow pace and