Came back from a show of Chandni Chowk To China. Given the kind of criticism the film has met, I expected it to be really tedious affair. I enter a hall that is not even 20 per cent full for a Monday morning show and even otherwise the multiplex looked deserted.

The film starts with a Sholay ‘Ramgad’ type setting, with suffering villagers and a Chinese Gabbar in the form of Hojo(Gordon Liu). Now, this is a situation we’ve seen so many times in so many films that there’s nothing remotely interesting about it. The only novelty is that the setting is China.

But cut to India and the colourful lanes of Delhi’s chandni chowk and the crisp, desi dialogues and camera work get your attention immediately. There’s a nice mix of both subtle and slapstick comedy throughout these initial sequences where a bored Siddhu(Akshay Kumar) is cursing his luck even as he mindlessly goes about cutting gajar-muli for his Dada’s (Mithun Chakraborty’s) paratha shop. These are nicely done scenes where Siddhu tries everything from lottery tickets to astrologers. He regularly messes up the shop, partly because he’s not interested in his life as a petty cook and mostly with his foolish money-making gimmicks.

The writers do well to establish Siddhu’s idiocy and sloth. So when two Chinese visitors wrongly presume him to be a reincarnation of a warrior – to battle against baddie Hojo – he readily accepts their offer to leave for China. In all this, he’s fooled by Chopstick ( a brilliant Ranvir Shorey) –a fraud who misguides him. This is probably the film’s most implausible plot point and Advani rushes though it, never explaining why the confusion occurs. Why is Siddhu mistaken to be someone else? This is a fatal flaw for the film, one hard to shrug off.

In the midst of this, there is a nice introduction to Deepika’s character as Sakhi, a model for a Chinese dancing shoe. She has a connection to China, as Hojo is the same man who killed both her father and her twin sister. Once in China, lot of things happen. Suffice it to say that there is enough humour and thrills to keep it going.
Again you wonder how everyone so readily accepts Siddhu as the reincarnation of a past war hero. There is really no logic to the film.
That doesn’t mean this film cannot be enjoyed. Advani introduces enough twists and turns to the plot and it all somehow neatly falls into place, like a 70s film. The central ‘Sholay’ premise is extremely underwhelming and Hojo’s character has nothing new to offer besides his bowler hat — which he uses to slice off necks.

Yet, there are strengths here, which are not to be ignored. The whole cosmic- kunfu training which Siddhu takes in the pre climax has been wonderfully executed. Here, one has to compliment the makers on how the songs (Naam Hai Siddhu and Chak Lein De) have been imaginatively weaved into the narrative. Also, not often does one see hard-core action of this kind interspersed with light moments at every turn. The action-comedy combo is a difficult one to pull off, but Advani manages it. This also prevents the film from ever slipping into a very serious mode, which works for a kunfu-masala flick. It rapturously carries on with the fun, operating on a certain fantasy, comic book realm all along. And this is what makes the film a flawed, but entertaining experience.

Akshay Kumar, as the bafoonish Siddhu and later as a determined kunfo student is a joy to watch. The actor always had an affable presence and here too, his comic timing is pitch perfect. Deepika Padukone doesn’t have much to do but she impresses in the looks department. Also, one hopes the possible commercial failure of the film doesn’t prevent Akki and Deepika from coming together again. They look good together and importantly, this was a much-needed break from Katrina Kaif for Akshay. This is also a break from the regular tasteless humour one sees in other Akshay comedies. This is more smart and subtle and could well be one of the reasons for audiences not taking to it (?)

Primarily, the film suffers because the premise is not new, and some key scenes defy logic. But this is certainly not a dismissible film.

**1/2

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