Film review: Chori Chori Chupke Chupke

HOOKER PLAYS the angel. ``Chori Chori Chupke Chupke''. Hooker turns into surrogate mother. Stealthily, silently. She falls in love with the man, unseen, unsuspected, unannounced. It complicates the affairs in Abbas-Mastan's controversy-ridden ``Chori Chori Chupke Chupke'' which released to warm response from cinegoers amidst tight security across the country this past week. And from the looks of it, they have a winner on their hands.

After a spate of action thrillers, here comes a film in which people are nice, mouth nicer things, sing sweet songs, wear smart dresses. Men earn good money, women wear long smiles. The patriarch rules not with a carrot or stick but `besan ke laddo'. With all uncles, aunts, family servants, young boys and brides, it is a continuum from ``Hum Aapke Hain Kaun'' minus the feel good family songs. All is fair, fine and fun until Piya Malhotra, daughter-in-law of the family - played with poise and polish by Rani Mukherji - meets with a freak accident on her journey to motherhood, ruling out the possibility of conception in the future. The Malhotra khandaan needs an heir. The helpless husband, Salman Khan - this time all sober, serious and actually fully attired! - refuses second marriage.

In steps a nautch girl to transform into a good samaritan. Preity Zinta, in probably the second most challenging role of her brief career, puts life into her character of Madhubala as she goes from being a roadside dancing girl to a woman who agrees to mother a child for a price, with elan. However, while she is credible as a to-be mother and exudes the warmth of one, she is not as convincing in mouthing the inanities used by the women of the street - something Rani Mukherji had done with flair in ``Bichchu'' last year.

How the Malhotra family gets their scion and Madhubala plays the good hand is what ``Chori Chori Chupke Chupke'' is all about. It is a nice emotional drama from the directors who have hitherto been known for their action thrillers like ``Khiladi'' and ``Baazigar''. With loads of good music, beautiful locales, sweet smiles and lovely feel, ``Chori Chori'' is unlikely to go unnoticed at the box office, examination fever notwithstanding. And the attention may not all come from eager cops who seemed more keen to have a glimpse of the film inside the cinema hall than patrol the area to ward off any threat of disruption by Shiv Sainiks when the film opened last Friday. The starry-eyed youngsters and extended families out on a leisurely evening will find the fare fairly enjoyable.

ZIYA US SALAM

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Section  : Entertainment
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