Chori Chori Chupke Chupke

Chori Chori Chupke Chupke -- Secretly, Quietly

MAIN CAST:

Salman Khan -- Raj

Rani Mukherji -- Priya

Preity Zinta -- Madhu

BRIEF PLOT OVERVIEW:

Raj and Priya meet at a friend's wedding and fall madly in love with each other. Life seems wonderful when they're married and Priya gets pregnant, but in a case of "medical science only possible in Bollywood" and "overrused Bollywood plot twists" colliding, Priya becomes barren, and she and Raj must hide the fact from the rest of the family to keep Raj's ailing grandfather healthy. To keep up appearances, Raj hires a prostitute, "Madhubala," to act as a surrogate mother.

FILM -- 3/5

C4 has its ups and downs. The script is merely "okay;" there's a good 30 minutes worth of material that could easily be removed, and some of the dialogue is really over-the-top, even by masala standards, but at least a lot of the humor hits home. The ending is a mixture of "total WTF" and "totally expected." The sound quality is pretty good, but considering visually gorgeous movies like Asoka were coming out around the same time, the picture quality is below par. The costuming is "meh," and while most of the outfits fit the characters, some of the clothes are really unflattering and need sent back to the 80s to die a slow, painful death.

CHARACTERS -- 3/5

Salman Khan is really charming in this movie and Rani is just plain darling, although they are both a little boring, thanks to their squeaky-clean characters. The low-class-hooker-with-a-secretly-good-heart role remniscent of Julia Roberts' stint in Pretty Woman really fits Preity Zinta, and she became my favorite character in the movie almost instantly. Granted, she was given a little more room to break free and go wild than the others, but at the same time, her youthful energy really leant her to the character. The three leads are all at their physical best, and there's good romantic and friendly chemistry to be had. I actually think Amrish Puri is highly underrated as a character actor, thanks to his many over-the-top villain parts, and I really liked him as Raj's laddoo-stealing grandfather. He was just so sweet! Alas, beyond Amrish Puri and Farida Jalal, the rest of the supporting cast isn't that good, and Johnny Lever makes an especially obnoxious appearance.

SOUNDTRACK -- 3.5/5

"Number One Punjabi" has a regrettable title, but it's so damn catchy and fun, and it's one of my favorite Bollywood songs. "Dekhne Waloon Ne" is a typical masala love song, complete with the Swiss alps and a cute couple, and of course, it gets old after a verse or two. Preity's dirty dancing in "Deewani, Deewani" makes up for its lack of finesse with its energy in-film, and the song is surprisingly good if you ignore the (fittingly) tacky lyrics. "Dil Tera Mera Dil" is my kind of song: sweet, sugary, and very 90s. The title song has that odd island flavor that a lot of masala soundtracks seem to favor, thanks to the guitar riffs, and while the picturization is in many was archetypical, it makes you feel for Madhu. The final medley, "Mehndi," is surprisingly beautiful and passionate. The awful background music ranges from squeaky saxophones to moaning all-girl choruses.

OVERALL -- 3/5

This is not an incredible movie that inspires and touches us. It's full of WTF moments, bad background music, and random masala oddities. But let's be honest here: C4 tried something new and managed to tread lightly on some rather touchy subjects, and that's worthy of praise. It does blatantly rip Pretty Woman from time to time, but it applies the little touches and quotes in a different way, so I forgive that as well. In the end, Chori Chori Chupke Chupke is a pleasant timepass that stands out from other masala films and keeps you entertained despite a few hiccups. It's definitely worth a rental or a cheap purchase.

TOTAL SCORE -- 12.5/20 (okay)