Movie Review August 2003
Chalte Chalte
Starring:
Shah Rukh Khan
Rani Mukherjee
Producer:
Dreamz Unlimited & UTV
Director:
Aziz Mirza
Music Directors:
Jatin-Lalit, Aadesh Shrivastava
Chalte Chalte is a sweet look at post-marriage blues, its basic premise being that men are from Mars and women are from Venus. A feeling of d�j� vu no doubt takes over as you watch the latter half of the movie since it is so similar to the earlier Rani-Vivek Oberoi starrer Saathiya. But there is a difference: The treatment of the husband-wife relationship is much more mature in this Aziz Mirza directed film and the director has garnished it with sequences that are straight out of everyday life ? and that's where the movie scores!
The first half is a euphoric trip to Greece and the romance and music is exhilarating even though storywise, there's hardly any novelty. Raj Mathur (SRK), a brash, impulsive guy relentlessly pursues the sophisticated Priya (Rani) till she breaks her engagement to her childhood friend and flies into the ever hopeful Raj's arms. So far so good. Married life takes off pretty well but there's trouble in paradise. Conflicts over petty things like shoes and wet towels gradually mount up till it reaches a point when divorce seems imminent. Of course, the climax is predictable enough besides being a trifle long.
Rani Mukherjee is the best part of the movie and it's a pleasure to watch her on screen. Not only does she look pretty, she has also matured greatly as an actress. As for Shah Rukh Khan, he better stop playing lover boy roles, he's getting repetitive and irritating. But there's no doubt that he's still a superhit actor with tremendous mass appeal.
Among the tracks, ?Tauba' and ?Suno Na' stand out for their honey-coated tunes, while the others are OK. Ashok Mehta's cinematography perks up the song sequences (those shot in Greece).
Definitely worth a watch.
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