The mush factory rolls again. And here comes two-and-a-half hours of feel-good candy floss fare.
Two bubbly belles (Rani Mukherjee and Preity Zinta) drool over the skimpily clad Salman. Some guys have all the luck! The threesome makes the best of buddies. Together they cavort around on exotic foreign locales. Things are groovy until the director decides to give a twist to this feel-good story.
Abbas-Mustan, the director duo who have given blood curdling suspense thrillers like Baazigar and Khiladi strays off their usual formula in Chori Chori Chupke Chupke. This time romance and tragedy seem to have taken precedence over thrills and suspense. And there is also enough of Bharjatya-type family drama.
Raj (Salman) is part of an ideal family consisting of a doting grandfather Kailashnath Malhotra, whom he reveres, a friendly father Ranjit Malhotra (Dilip Tahil) and a loving mother (Farida Jalal). Raj is the rising star, the man who would uphold the heritage of his rich family, and its bounty of millions.
Raj's heart beats for Priya (Rani Mukherji) who too hails from a rich family and is the ideal girl to be Malhotra's bahu. The duo fall in love, get married and Priya is warmly welcomed in Malhotra family. Things are fine until the twosome come to know that Priya is barren. With this realization also dawns the fear that Malhotra's distinguished lineage would end with Raj.
Here enters the sprightly bar dancer Madhoo (Preity Zinta) who will rescue the couple from this quandary. Priya entreats Madhoo to conceive Raj's child. An initially hesitant Madhoo ultimately consents to Priya's plea.
The plot thickens as Raj and Madhoo are drawn closer. Priya conceals her feelings and there grows the complex labyrinth of emotions. How the trio bale out of this situation forms the high point of the movie.
Salman-Rani-Preity has already caught the fancy of today's yuppie generation in Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega. Their kind of romance-- puerile and full of glam and glitz-- has become the staple diet of a cinegoer. And CCCC has its share of saccharine stuff.
Anu Malik's music is catchy, melodious and gels quite well with the theme of the film. However the tepid script, mushy dialogues and weak direction make CCCC a farrago of half-baked ideas.
As far as acting goes, Salman is his usual 'ham self'. Although he doesn't resort to shirt doffing so often, he dishes out the usual bland and vapid stuff. Rani is vivacious but too infantile. On the other hand Preity's quicksilver moods are pretty impressive. Also chipping in with some comic moments is Johny Lever as Pappu Bhai, Salman's sidekick who is more like a son to the Malhotras.
The film which has already created much hype owing to the alleged links of its producer and financier with the underworld promises to be a crowd puller. Let's see if it puts an end to the ongoing barren spell in Bollywood.
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