Story: A 40-year-old Punjabi man is on a mission to immerse his grandfather’s ashes down South. Enroute he meets a young Tamilian girl who has eloped. Their lives entwine and his journey takes an altogether different route.
Review: In an ode to his own cinema—read Golmaal series, Bol Bachchan, Rohit Shetty ishstyle, the director, who has grossers in Bollywood’s 100-crore club, ups the scale for his Eid offering.
Chennai Express (CE) is a magnificently mounted film. Never having been strong in the story department, CE too has a guillible plot line. Rahul ( Shah Rukh Khan) is asked by his dadi (Kamini Kaushal) to drop his granddad’s ashes in Rameswaram, the southern-most tip of India. He boards the Chennai Express to hoodwink granny but has secretly planned a getaway with his guy friends to Goa. Alas, in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge fashion, a damsel in distress, Meena ( Deepika Padukone) asks for his outstretched hand as he stands on the footboard. And his Samaritan act changes his destiny.
He discovers she’s the daughter of a Don from a South-side village and her accompanying cousins (hulks in pony tails) want her to return home. Her father wants Meena to marry another hulk (Niketan Dheer) from a nearby village, so he can then rule two villages. Meena resists and insists to her father (Sathyaraj) that it is Rahul who has her fancy. The father relents but the other hulks resist.
From here on, Rahul constantly tries to outsmart the South Indian mob. And as expected in Indian mainstream cinema, he breaks into song-and-dance, gets drunk, blows up jeeps and does a Jim Carryish over-the-top act to get guffaws from a captive audience.
For what is primarily a Hindi film, there’s too much spoken Tamil. There are cleverly written lines that ask you not to underestimate the south because it even plays a crucial role in the coalition government, but for the rest of India, a lot of the dialogue is lost in translation. Subtitles would be in order.
After Cocktail and Yeh Jaawani Hai Deeewani, Deepika is once again in superlative form. Shah Rukh’s attempts at comedy go from convincing to convoluted. But, for the most part, he lights up the screen with his effervescence.
Note: You may not like the film if Bollywood potboilers leave you cold.
Here are the movie reviews for Chennai Express:
Ratings: 2.5/5 Site:Indian Express
Chennai Express began chugging along , I found myself laughing out loud in a place. Or two. The laughs came intermittently through the first half, and I was still sitting in my seat at the interval. And then it turned into the same old story.
Still, this is a pair trying to have some fun, and coming up with some genuinely funny moments. Padukone looks lovely and sticks to a spunky over –the- topness, and doesn’t waver, till she’s made to go all emotional. That’s when her graph dips. That’s when Shah Rukh’s raffish charm slips. And that is also when `Chennai Express’ derails. And wannakum becomes wannago.
Ratings:4/5 Site:Bollywood Hungama
On the whole, CHENNAI EXPRESS has the trademark Rohit Shetty stamp all over. You seek entertainment, entertainment and entertainment in a film like CHENNAI EXPRESS and the movie lives up to the hype and hoopla surrounding it. The tremendous craze surrounding the film, the Rohit Shetty – SRK – Deepika combo, the Eid release, besides the extensive release strategy by UTV, should ensure a record-breaking start for this biggie. Right from the paid previews to the opening weekend to Week 1, CHENNAI EXPRESS should be on a glorious march in days to come, setting new records in India and also in the international markets. All you lovers of masala movies, board this Express pronto!
Ratings:3.5/5 Site:TimesOfIndia (TOI)
In an ode to his own cinema—read Golmaal series, Bol Bachchan, Rohit Shetty ishstyle, the director, who has grossers in Bollywood’s 100-crore club, ups the scale for his Eid offering. Chennai Express (CE) is a magnificently mounted film. Never having been strong in the story department, CE too has a guillible plot line. For what is primarily a Hindi film, there’s too much spoken Tamil. Note: You may not like the film if Bollywood potboilers leave you cold.
Ratings:3/5Site:NDTV
It’s a somewhat long ride that occasionally teeters on the edge of tedium, but it certainly isn’t all wrong. Parts of Chennai Express, propelled by a spirit of inspired lunacy that holds the no-holds-barred action comedy in good stead, is markedly better than the sum total of the film. If only it had enough steam to sustain its momentum all the way to the very end, it would probably have been far more fun to watch.
Ratings:3/5 Site:Koimoi
Watch or Not?: Rohit Shetty’s Chennai Express is regurgitation of his trademark style that comprises his repertoire of work. Bountiful of silly gags, and car-smashing stunts, the film’s hilt is Shah Rukh Khan as he revisits his role of Rahul in an action avatar which he has mostly kept alien from him. Deepika Padukone’s smothering screen presence is a delight. Chennai Express is a must watch entertaining flick that will juggle between romance, humor and action and is enjoyable for its run time!
Ratings:– Site:Emirates24By7
But, logic isn’t something that we’d associate with this breed of comedies, but, despite these obvious slip-ups, Rohit Shetty’s ‘Chennai Express’ manages to chug along. Rohit plays to the gallery and lifts many iconic Bollywood situations and invests immensely in buffoonery. It’s endearing at times, but the jokes are repeated so often that they lose shine. Rohit’s carnival-like comedy coaxes some laughs, but can leave you exhausted. Make no mistake, ‘Chennai Express’ is fun, but the kind that Rohit endorses.
Ratings:3/5 Site:IANS
So it’s finally here. The good news is that Chennai Express is a pleasant and likable film in parts. The bad news is, it does nothing for Shah Rukh Khan’s indomitable star power except to tell us he can still play a 40-year Rahul without faltering. That, we already know.
Ratings: 2.5/5 Site:Rediff
Does Chennai Express break away from it? Not always. But even with his overstating approach, it’s decidedly more zany compared to all the Golmaal sequels and ilk he’s doled out in recent years.
Finally, did I get my ten laughs? Well, I came *this* close. By the time the count had reached seven, Chennai Express decided to shift tracks from droll comedy to dreadful drama.
