| Renowned
for his flair for comedy, director Priyadarshan, comes up with another winner
at the UK box office with Chup Chup Ke. The
first half is an all out comedy but post interval comes on a more serious note. After
constantly borrowing money from people and a failing business, Jeet (Shahid Kapoor)
becomes bankrupt. With
no way out, he insures himself and decides to commit suicide, hoping that the
money will be enough to pay off his debts. Though
his family and fianc茅e believe that he is dead, he is rescued by the fishermen
team of Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav. Jeet
acts dumb and the two fishermen gets lumbered with him. With
the intention of getting rid of him, Paresh hands him over to a wealthy businessman
(Om Puri), as a collateral for lending them his boat. This
is where Jeet meets Shruthi (Kareena) who is still unmarried, as she cannot mute.
Her sister and interpreter (Neha Dhupia) is smart and soon sees through Jeet.
But
Shruthi is smitten by him, and will go against everyone, including her hot headed
brother Mangal (Sunil Shetty), to win him over. Jeet
agrees to marry Shruthi, thanks to Neha helping the couple. Unfortunately
for him, his parents and fianc茅e get wind of the fact that he is alive.
They
appear on his wedding day to take him back. An intense drama follows, which eventually
ends to everyone's satisfaction It's
an interesting plot which gets dampened by comedy as it gets monotonous after
a while.
But
midway, the director changes course of action as comedy turns to an emotional
tear jerker. This manages to hold the audiences' attention. Of
the cast, everyone has put a lot of hard work though special mention goes to Rajpal
Yadav and Neha Dhupia. Neha
breaks her Julie and Sheesha character image and gives an excellent
performance. The screenplay and cinematography are first rate. The
only unfortunate thing is that though the story is set in Bengal, in a Gujrati
household, neither does anyone sound like a Bengali nor like a Gujrati. It
is these finer points of filmmaking and acting that can convert a good film into
a great film. Also Indian filmmakers have a lot to learn, in the department of
voice styling and design. Overall
Chup Chup Ke is a good entertainer but even better if the director concentrated
on the finer points. Reviewed
by our guest reviewer
Dr.P.V.Vaidyanathan | 
