Raju Chacha

Different from the run-of-the-mill

DEVGAN Entertainment’s Raju Chacha may well be a leaf taken out of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. The film is woven around a script and characters that are unbelievable, and yet, the presentation makes all the difference. The attempt here, has been to make a film that appeals to all sections of the audience, and on that count, it does succeed to a great extent. The film may be based on a wafer-thin plot that has been predictably stretched, but the grandeur and the size of the canvas, and not to forget, the very high production values act as saving graces.

The story revolves around business tycoon Sidhant Rai (Rishi Kapoor) and his three children — Rahul, Rohit and Rani. He tries everything to keep the

children happy, in the absence of their mother mother who died a long time ago. But the troika of naughty brats doesn’t allow anyone to stay long in the palatial mansion. At last, Anna (Kajol) enters the mansion as a governess and she succeeds, to some extent, to win the confidence of the children. A petty thief, Shekhar (Ajay Devgan) tries every trick up his sleeve to woo Ana and gain an entry into the Rai household.

Meanwhile, Sidhant’s business partners and his uncle hatch a plan to eliminate him and usurp his wealth. Sidhant is killed in a road accident and the children are stripped of their opulent lifestyles. Shekhar enters the household posing as Raju Chacha, Sidhant’s younger brother, who was thrown out of the house for his vices. Shekhar’s intention is to make a good living and some money in the bargain. But when he comes to know about the evil intentions of Sidhant’s business partners, he decides to get involved.

The children are not aware till the end whether Shekhar is their real Chacha. To make matters more confusing, Sanjay Dutt also puts in a brief appearance towards the end, posing as Raju Chacha. Thus, the true identity of the character on whom the film is based is not revealed till the end.

Performances by all the principal characters helps bolster the film’s chances at the box-office. Rishi Kapoor, for the first time, plays a role his age and, in the bargain, comes up trumps in all respects. Kajol goes through the role of the governess with remarkable ease and her romantic interludes with Ajay Devgan are a treat to watch. She once again shows glimpses of the great actress she no doubt is. Ajay Devgan’s transformation from an action star to soft, romantic hero is definitely paying off. He puts in a lot of effort into essaying the character of Raju Chacha, laced as it is with comedy and romance, to conviction. The child artistes — Harsh, Mansukh and Sakshi, do a fair job and should help draw the audience of their age group into the cinemas. Johny Lever is good as usual, too.

Director Anil Devgan proves he is a good technician. He has managed to extract the best from his technical crew and his shot compositions are worth mentioning, too. But he gets very little help from the story and screenplay, though these blemishes have been adequately taken care of with some animation and the plush locales and sets. Musically, Jatin-Lalit has come up with numbers to match the mood of the film. Tune mujhe pehchana nahi is the pick of the lot. Cinematography by Nirmal Jani adds to the grandeur, making the shots seem like paintings on canvas. Nitin Desai has done well with the extraordinarily lavish set designs that enhance the production values. Misha Goutham’s animation work may be compared with the best in the trade.

The film has not exactly got off to an overwhelming response at the box-office. But it has all the ingredients to satisfy every section of audience and appears to be a safe bet.

Khiladi 420

Akshay Kumar at his best

WRITER-DIRECTOR Neeraj Vora makes a promising debut with DMS Films’ Khiladi 420, and exhibits his talent at writing racy screenplays. But where he falters is in characterisation and bringing in new twists and turns in the storyline. Akshay Kumar dons the role of a conman with grey overtones in the first half and a complete reversal in the second half which takes away much of the charm of the film. The tempo is built up to such an extent just before the breather, creating a lot of expectations which are belied in the the latter half.

The director and the actor seem to develops cold feet in projecting the central character in a negative mould. The film may still sail through the box-office on the merit of Akshay’s performance and the breathtaking action scenes.

Dev (Akshay Kumar) is a match-fixer by profession and when he fails to deliver his commitment of Rs 9 crore, he dabbles in a different game of conning unsuspecting souls. Ritu (Mahima Choudhary) is his next target, whom he flummoxes by posing as a big businessman from Canada. He impresses her father so much that he is ready to do anything for him. What next? Dev catches the next available flight to India and lands up in the Bharadwaj home. Rahul (Sudhanshu Pandey) who also loves Ritu discretely smells a rat owing to Dev’s peculiar behaviour. Dev manages to win the confidence of Ritu and expresses his desire to marry her. The master player kills Ritu’s father to take control of the business. The family still does not suspect Dev. He reveals his true colours on the very first night of the wedding when he attempts to kill even Ritu, to take control of all her wealth. But a badly beaten Ritu resists the battering, and instead, kills Dev.

Now the good samaritan younger brother of Dev (another Akshay Kumar) makes his entry. He manages to convince Ritu that he is the younger brother of Dev and does not have any plans to stay with her. But she develops a soft corner for him. In the end, the younger brother manages to eliminate those who are after his brother’s blood and also marries Ritu.

Akshay Kumar delivers what has to be the best performance of his career. He is very good in the first half, portraying the role of a conman lusting for a big fortune, paying little heed to the value for relationships. He has essayed the role with remarkable conviction. But in the second half, it’s the usual Akshay. His breathtaking action scenes atop an aircraft are what very few would even think of performing. Mahima Chowdhury does get a good chance to exhibit her histrionics and she manages to do just that to perfection. Sudhanshu Pandey leaves his mark in a brief role. Mukesh Rishi, Sayaji Shinde and Gulshan Grover are adequate in the role of baddies. Antara Mali provides some oomph as Dev’s moll.

Director Neeraj Vora leaves you no pauses in the first half to even think. But exactly the opposite happens in the second half, where the emphasis is on mindless action. This is where the film loses its grip over the audience. However, he teams up with Uttam Gada to give some memorable lines in the dialogue. Musically, Sanjeev Darshan fails to compose a hit tune as all the songs in the film are just average. Cinematography by Prabhu and S Pappu is excellent. Ratnakar Phadke needs special mention for composing the mid-air action scenes, which may well be the film’s highlight. But he does go overboard towards the end.

The film with its unusually strong first half and action in abundance in the second half should go well with audiences in the North and at the smaller centres.

Padmaraj Nair
raajnair99@hotmail.com

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