Watching a film in a theatre has become such a luxury recently not being able to leave home for so long. Thus, on Mothers’ Day when the Sister and the Husband together planned a movie outing for me with my mom and sis, I welcomed the break! The film they picked out was Chalo Dilli and thank god they did!
Chalo Dilli like all Vinay Pathak movies is a laugh riot. The man is so phenomenally funny that one can not help but laugh out loud! He makes the simplest of dialogues seem funny with his expressions and character portrayal! Chalo Dilli is a simple story of the journey of a high flying banker from Mumbai (Lara Dutta) and a trader from old Delhi (Vinay Pathak) from Mumbai to Delhi. One would think how is it possible to make something as regular as a journey into a full 2 hour entertaining film? They do…and how!
Lara Dutta in her sophisticated no nonsense avtar does great justice to her character. She plays the corporate honcho to perfection, especially the urban-socialite-stuck-in-rural-India part, complete with her pencil skirt and stilettoes. And she does it with such conviction that we don’t hold it against her that she is so cynical and condescending…she just is used to being boss…and don’t we all know the type
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Vinay Pathak is the typical punjabi trader with a saree shop in Karol Bagh and a small house in Chandni Chowk. Cliches aside, the man is a disaster magnet and anything he touches blows up into one huge disaster after another. His character seems to have traces of his Bheja Fry avtar yet its quirkiness has splashes of originality as well.
The scenes ease into one another, not for one moment leaving the audience bored. Authentic locales shot in the smaller towns of India, witty dialogues and great background music only helps the movie flow along.
All in all, a great film to unwind with. A few laughs and good old unpretentious classic humour. Must Watch
PS: In case you notice a lack of mention of a certain Yana Gupta number on Laila mein laila, its because I'm hoping that pretending it doesn't exist will delete it from the film somehow. Crass and unwarranted, it is the one sore spot of this film!
Rating: 4 on 5
Paisa Wasool Moment: When Vinay pulls the chain to stop a train and get Lara on board, she asks him what will happen if they get caught. To which he responds that the TC is looking for some other fool coz he was smart enough to go into the AC compartment and pull the chain!!!!
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