Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Atul Kulkarni, Kay Kay Menon and Ravi Kishan
Director: Hriday Shetty
Rating: 0.5/5
Even the A-grade cast can't save this C-grade movie...
By Priyanka Ketkar
"What in the world was the point of making this film?" "Why would anyone want to make such a film, more so, why would such distinguished actors want to act in it?" "Are these veterans tired of their popularity and want to reduce their fan base?" Such were my thoughts after watching Chaalis Chauraasi, a film by Hriday Shetty.
Pankaj Suri urf Sir (Naseeruddin Shah), an English professor turned criminal turned driver, Bhaskar Sardesai aka Bobby (Atul Kulkarni), a wannabe singer turned pimp, Pinto (Kay Kay Menon) a car-thief and Shakti (Ravi Kishan), a drugs-dealer come together for one of the biggest heists ever. How do they know each other? No idea. How and why are those false currency-notes precious? No Idea. If it is precious, why do they still want to steal the actual currency-notes? Only Sir knows the answers to these questions and probably (hopefully) the director & the story-writer.
It hasn't been long since I spoke about or rather criticized Don 2 and Players for their poor techniques, skills and an absolute lack of imagination while attempting heists. Chaalis Chauraasi has touched a new low. These four thugs attempt an almost 20 crores worth loot by pretending as police cops. I mean, really? Now, for this they will need a police van (stolen), police uniforms and only Naseeruddin will need a hair-cut and a false moustache, right? Twist in the tale- the car which they steal, for turning into a police van, gets stolen. Okay, Funny. Let's move on.
Instead of using the simple, regular way of narration, the director indulges in moving between the present day and the flash-backs with the help of what looks like the Vantage Point-like style. For a few brief moments this video footage of their past seems to be intriguing but then those moments pass quickly and you are jolted back to the ghastly C-grade reality of the film. And this sudden jolt is because of some irrelevant, appalling music which the filmmakers claim to be a song (in fact, it is not "a" song; Songs keep coming one-after another in quick succession).
Also, let us not forget the "important" sub-plot of the gangster- Bisleri (no, it is not an ad-placement; it is the gangster's name). So all of these come together in the end and get absorbed in the mad-chase and confusion, like that in Hungama (only here, it is absolutely uninteresting and it is with bullets firing and people dying).
That is the movie. Ahh, and how can I forget... The title of the movie is important because the number 4084 is on their stolen car's number plate. That is its significance. The End. It was Funny. Laugh.
The absurdness and pointlessness of the movie has seriously left me stumped. It has the feel of a Bhojpuri movie, maybe even a C-grade movie. But even if we assume that the movie is targeted at such a crowd, I am pretty sure even they won't stand up and whistle at those cheap item songs and clap at those below-the-belt jokes. Nothing about this film is good. The songs are beyond bad, there is absolutely nothing to the story, the movie is too long and too stretched and except the unnecessary "special effects" there is nothing special about the movie.
What I really fail to understand is that why have actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Atul Kulkarni, Kay Kay Menon and Ravi Kishan, with an excellent (proven) caliber agreed to do such a film. All the four actors have done really well, they even look fabulous. But it is not their fault that the movie is so bad.
I was thinking really hard for one single point in the favour of this movie. But except the acting, nothing else is good. And unfortunately, that is not enough to save Chaalis Chauraasi.