Priyadarshan's latest movie 'Chup Chup Ke' meanders between comedy and melodrama.
The master filmmaker tries to strike a balance between humour and drama in his latest offering. The film, a farcical comedy of errors, does entertain in the first half. In the second half, the plot steers into the unexpected territory where family drama, mushy emotions and sentimentality take precedence.
Shahid Kapur's cherubic charm makes him perfectly suited for the character of Jeetu, a small-town guy with a conspicuous lack of business acumen. Jeetu is engaged to Pooja (Sushma Reddy). He is tragically unlucky in every moneymaking enterprise he ventures into. Overburdened by debts, scorned at by his father-in-law, Jeetu decides to commit suicide so that his father (Anupam Kher) can settle the debts with the insurance money.
But Jeetu fails even in this endeavor and is fished out of the sea by two quirky fishermen Bandya (Rajpal Yadav) and Gundya (Paresh Rawal), who mistake him to be a rich guy after finding a slip in his pocket. Jeetu conveniently pretends that he is mute and deaf.
Gundya decides to use Jeetu and Bandya to settle his old debt to a Gujarati businessman. He sends the two to do household chores in the house of Prabhat Singh (Om Puri).
In this household, while Bandya goes about the daily chores, Jeetu develops a rapport with Prabhat Singh's niece Shruti (Kareena Kapoor) and her cousin Meenakshi (Neha Dhupia).
Like Jeetu, Shruti too is mute. She is a simple girl who spends her time painting canvases, praying and whiling away time with Meenakshi, who is her voice.
The Gujarati household also has Shruti's overprotective brother Mangal (Sunil Shetty), who is overexcited about the prospect of marrying his sister to a rich Gujarati businessman.
In the meantime, Jeetu's secret is exposed to Shruti and her cousin. They promise to keep his secret under the condition that he must help them break Shruti's marriage with the Gujarati businessman.
Love sprouts and blossoms between Shruti and Jeetu. And Shruti's overprotective brother comes to know of this. In a surprising twist, Mangal gives in to his sister's wishes and accepts Jeetu as a possible groom for Shruti.
But Jeetu's troubles are far from over. His fiancée Pooja shows up. Jeetu finds himself in a romantic tangle. He has to choose one of the two women.
Priyadarshan has not attempted to make an out-and-out comedy film. 'Chup Chup Ke' has a sufficient dose of humour to entertain and enough drama to pull a couple of strings at heart. However, the overall impact of this fusion remains a tad tepid. From comedy to drama, the plot oscillates unconvincingly and by the time the movie draws to close, the farce is stretched to the point of snapping.
Humour and gags work in the sequences featuring Rajpal Yadav, Paresh Rawal and Shakti Kapoor. Rajpal Yadav's naturally unassuming demeanor and the witty lines he delivers make for an entertaining watch. Paresh Rawal is brilliant as usual, but he should have been given more footage in the film.
Shahid Kapur plays his part comfortably and convincingly. The young actor also gets to show his flair for humour in some sequences. However, his chemistry with Kareena Kapoor still leaves much to be desired. Kareena has no dialogues in the film, but she enacts her mute part very well.
Surprisingly, Neha Dhupia leaves quite an impact in this film with her new, homely avatar. She ought to take more of similar roles.
Om Puri does invoke a few laughs while playing his raucous character. Sunil Shetty is plain average.
In a nutshell, 'Chup Chup Ke' provides timepass entertainment.
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