Finally Eid is upon us & unlike the previous years, we have a SRK movie hitting the screens rather than Salman's. After the disappointing "Jab Tak Hai Jaan", SRK join hands with Rohit Shetty in the company of Deepika Padukone for "Chennai Express". The expectations are nigh high after all Rohit Shetty is the king of "no brainer entertainers" with an enviable track record. With the film already having an unprecedented wide release in 3500 screens in 10 different languages, it should have the records toppling left & right. Being not a great fan of Rohit's no brainers, I just hope it isnt the same old stuff. Hmm...let's see...

Rahul (Oh SRK, back to his favourite screen name for the umpteenth time) is entrusted to fulfill the last wishes of his grandfather to have his ashes immersed in Rameshwaram. Though he embarks on this journey with an alternate plan in mind, it all goes topsy turvy thanks to Meenamma (Deepika) who is being escorted back to her village in Tamil Nadu against her wishes for marriage by her cousin brothers. Meenamma hatches a get away plan with Rahul, but will they manage to escape from the clutches of her father???

Frankly speaking, I have never been a fan of Rohit Shetty films except for "Singham" which I enjoyed even more than the original. It's common knowledge that his brand of film making involves gravity defying stunts & brainless comedies...in short, a complete masala entertainer, which has a lot of takers as evidenced by the number of blockbusters he has to his name. Over here as well, the story isn't much different except that it's far more sensible than his other ventures. There are some genuinely hilarious scenes but quite a few were repeated which gets irritating after a point like the conversation conveyed through songs or the oft repeated "Dont underestimate..." dialogue.

SRK has done an impressive job especially in the parts he makes mockery of himself, though there are quite a couple of scenes where he overacts. Deepika has done total justice to her role & stays toe to toe with the superstar. As opposed to Rohit's other films, the action sequences are quite minimal with the climax stunt being well choreographed. Vishal Shekhar's music rocked with "Titli" &"1234" being my personal favourites while Dudley's visuals were breathtaking at times.

Verdict: Pre-release hype, catchy music & unprecedented number of release centres will ensure that the film takes an earth shattering initial. In all probability, it will break all existing records & will be marching its way towards 200C in the long run. From a personal point of view, it's just about average but definitely better than the usual buffonery of Rohit's films!!!

Rating: 2.25/5

Regards...Ben

Utter rubbish. Tasteless and Overacting. Not sure if this is a Hindi movie or a Tamil as 80% dialogues are in Tamil. SRK at his stupid best. No suprises if this also makes it to the 100 Cr club and Rohith Shetty come up with another sequel called Howra Express or Nizamudhin - Kachiguda Express. I would rate it 1 out of 5. 1 for the Music & the Lungi dance. Keep away if possible.

Chennai Express is the 21st Hindi film to enter the (now stale/yawn) Rs 100 cr+ club. Taaliyan!!! (or should I say Gaaliyan). And there ends the objective for this documentary on Tamilnadu Tourism.



When the occasion is festive (Eid), the hundi is ready to be filled up with eager ever-willing / spending fans, there is a blitzkrieg of non-stop media, marketing and money spent like water, crass promotion spree with games releases etc, an entire week's free-run, competition trounced (Marathi Duniyadari and Tamil Thalaiva), mammoth release (3500) with countless shows daily in multiplexes alone and single screens counting, with ticket prices raised, the stage has been set by the big daddies (financiers) to rip the gullible apart. And to hell with the movie and the story. A documentary would do. Welcome aboard the Tamil Express. Were Ramaiya Vastavaiya released on Eid day, it too'd've done 100+ cr business. So it'd make sense only if CE ends up dong 300-500+ cr business. Let's see the star power. Let's see if this docu can survive a week and meet the next biggie the next week.



Manmohan Desai-Amitabh Bachchan, David Dhawan-Govinda and now RoHIT SHITty-Ajay Devgan was/is a sure-fire hit combo. Most of the time these combos rode on luck but at times their movies didn't succeed. Shitty is purely riding on luck and he extended the olive branch to the over-the-hill, unsure and faded SRK, who lapped it up like there was no tomorrow. And believe me, this is so true. CE has entered the club but where has it taken SRK? SRK has nothing new to offer. He has no more new milestones to cross or any records to set. The movie cannot add anything to him except fan his ego. It's time for SRK to reflect and re-invent himself. In a couple of years he'll be 50 and... Let me leave this here as we've to discuss something very important- the (non-existent) story.



The lucky letter K is abundant here in the train journey from Kalyan-Karjat-Kambam (Theni) to Rameshwaram. Forget Kashmir to Kanyakumari. A 40+ virgin hero, who is unsure whether he is Michael Jackson, Jim Carrey or Rahul of yore (I mean 20+ RAHUL) or whatever and makes faces to pass it off for acting (I guess, SRK has done better in his ads and photo shoots). The hero doesn't understand Tamil (so how did the director presume the viewer could follow this 60% Tamil padam. Wouldn't it be better for us to watch a genuine Tamil film Thalaiva?). The heroine does the translation but otherwise there is no mandatory sub-titling. Never mind as most of the viewers are doing what the hero is doing - NODDING yes and no. (Wonderful pastime). The heroine speaks Hindi in a funny accent and Tamil even more so but she sings songs in PERFECT Hindi! The toy train journeys through cardboard scenery. Wonder of wonders, a 35k cellphone thrown out of the train lands intact on STONES and is still functioning (phone/internet/text) like it is in