Most of Chamku is like a thriller without purpose. Less than half-an-hour into the film, once Chamku moves out of Naxal land to the RAW, the plot comes to a halt. Agreed, the film has well-shot action sequences and the director successfully captures a realistic, gritty look of Mumbai city. But Ram Gopal Varma has been doing this for years. In fact, the entire film struggles to find its own bearing.
It begins as a Hindi heartland Prakash Jha Gangajalesque drama…Then moves to Mumbai in RGV's Company style…And culminates in a long chase with forced twists and turns that are clearly only Raj Kumar Santoshi's cup of tea. One gets a feeling the Deols were excited with the idea of doing a serious action film that's a break from the Punjabi punches. Clearly no one knew how to go about it. Director Kabeer Kaushik's previous effort Saher though similar in setting and equally confusing was far more watchable.
But for a film with a tagline 'Kahani Kabhi Khatam Nahi Hoti' it is thankfully short. It could however have been much shorter without the half-a-dozen Zzz grade songs. Can't believe Monty Saawariya Sharma has been credited for the score.
Now for the performances!
Chamku has an impressive supporting cast that includes Irrfan Khan, Rajpal Yadav, Danny and Ritesh Deshmukh. But they have all been wasted in thankless cameos as each character meets an irritatingly abrupt end.
Priyanka Chopra's character has to be the dumbest one to have hit the screens in a long long time. As the teacher with a heart of gold, who gives Chamku a reason to smile – The Bobby-Priyanka track is a watered down imitation of the Sunny-Dimple romance in Arjun. And his struggle to get back to a normal life with the girl of his dreams is quite similar to Sanjay Dutt's Kartoos.
Priyanka's character is straight out of the 80s and so is her make up and styling. But the icing on the cake in terms of clichés would be her 'Main Tumhare Bacche Ki Maa Banne Wali Hoon' sequence with Bobby. And just as she is getting ready to ask him for marriage Bobby blurts out with a 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi'. It's so amateurish one gets a feeling it is a mockery of Bollywood cliches. How did Bobby and Priyanka shoot it with a straight face?
