Chalo Dilli Movie Review

Of course, there are other films releasing too, but it seems to be a battle between Mumbai and Delhi at the box office (not IPL) this week, as SHOR IN THE CITY takes on CHALO DILLI.

Talking about CHALO DILLI, Lara Dutta has chosen a road movie for her first film as a producer. DIL HAI KI MAANTA NAHIN and JAB WE MET are some of the road movies that we've seen before. Directed by Shahsant Shah, (DASVIDANIYA) CHALO DILLI also features the unusual pairing of Lara Dutta and Vinay Pathak.

The film is about Manu Gupta (Vinay Pathak) and Mihika Mukherjee (Lara Dutta), for whom Dilli is literally very door (far). It traces their arduous journey from Mumbai to Delhi. Mihika is a high profile investment banker, who wants everything to be just perfect. Manu Gupta is a paan chewing, loquacious saree trader from Chandni Chowk. Both are as different as day and night. But what starts as an impossible trip, turns out to be a highly exhilarating one for the two.

Director Shashant Shah had an interesting premise, but fails in its execution. The graph remains unidimensional, with hardly any engaging moments in the narrative. It fails miserably in the humour aspect. You are constantly treated to sad jokes by Manu, which make you cringe. The first half in particular, is very tiresome.

On the other hand, the director does a smart thing by not having a cliched romantic angle between Manu and Mihika, which is a good thing. There is also a nice twist in the climax, but that's about it.