Movie Review: 'Chennai Express'

39Chennai Express39 UA RomCom Dir Rohit Shetty Cast Shah Rukh Khan Deepika Padukone Nikitin Dheer The heroine is running towards a train going to Chennai even though she is running away from Chennai The urn containing the herorsquos grandfatherrsquos lsquopreciousrsquo ashes plays hide and seek conveniently The goons kill everyone around but spare the hero and most of Tamil Nadu cannot decipher Hindi words like they are the aliens of 39Krrish 339 hellipso on and so forth Well this film is Brand Rohit Shetty so you are expected to leave your brains at home While you are at it keep it in the refrigerator it would help if it stays cool when you return after watching the climax of this movie Well if you leave logic and some of your education behind 39Chennai Express39 manages to get some chuckles out of you keeps you entertained for part of it and also makes you sheepishly want to be silly and dance to the Lungi song Thatrsquos most of the battle won in this country isnrsquot it Frontbenchers rejoice Deepika Padukone plays Meena Lochini a girl with unpronounceable second name and an intolerable don for father Shah Rukh Khan plays Rahul a 40yearold thatrsquos such a pleasant surprise North Indian man whorsquos spent most of his life pleasing his insufferable and lsquoundyingrsquo grandpa Rahul sets out on a holiday for Goa and a dumb decision later ends up on Chennai Express and a lot of trouble His troubles begin when he encounters Meena whorsquos running away from her father and a forced wedding to Thangaballi Nikitin Dheer Even while the oily wellfed goons who are chasing lsquoMeenaammarsquo toss people and phones off the train with unbelievable ease even when Rahul irritates them for more than one reason for some inconceivable reason they take him back to their town Kumban where Meenarsquos father rules Kumban is the place where men are oilier and plumper crowds with readymade shocked expressions appear at a momentrsquos notice sickles and coconuts fly around at alarming speed and the poor lsquodreadedrsquo don in a crisp white lungi seems stuck with a fixed stony face It has to beu00a0something to do with hisu00a0dumb expression that his terror is just limited to the 100odd people in Kumban and the neighbouring village seems to be absolutely unaware of his clout Once in a while Tangaballi the man with many frowns looms large and tries hard to be menacing The script might be totally devoid of common sense but to give the due credit Shettyrsquos typical flippity casual humour and innovative action sequences keeps you thrilled and involved in most part of it Except for the forced emotional bits about missing maas and babujis and the herorsquos idiotic lsquoI will nearly get killed for loversquo climax the film is fun and easy on the senses Shah Rukh is most endearing in some parts especially when he plays this helpless urban fellow caught in the clutches of dangerous goons with weapons Ironically when the superstar within him surfaces mainly in the climax he takes on the predictable and overthetop acting route A special mention has to be made of Deepikarsquos nearperfect performance I give that half extra star for this girl who shows immense potential for comedy in just one scene where she is sleeptalking Yes her Tamil accent goes around the South of Vindhyas and gets lost somewhere at the border of Kerala and Karnataka but it is difficult to take your eyes off her even when she is sharing the screen with SRK Watch it if you think your brain needs some rest