Other Topics : Art Culture - Fashion - Tourism

Latest & Hot Bollywood Film News : * hourly updation

Back to Bollywood Current News Section

                          Advertisement

36 Chinatown Review :   

"36 Chinatown': weak but stylishly packaged whodunit
By Subhash K. Jha, Indo-Asian News Service 

Film: "36 Chinatown"; Starring Akshaye Khanna, Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Johnny Lever, Tenaaz Lal, Paresh Rawal, Payal Rohatgi and Upen Patel; Directed by Abbas-Mustan; Rating: **

From master-thriller makers comes this brisk and bouncy rib-tickler that purports to be a comic whodunit. Admittedly, some portions of the narrative keep you smiling and some make you bite your nail in suspense.

This is pleasurable silliness masquerading as a whodunit. To that extent it works, though you never know why the film had to have the title that it has when in fact Chinatown plays no part in it. Sure, paper dragons float by in the climatic song and we see some mongoloid faces in the chorus line. But er...is that all it takes to create Chinatown? 

Maybe Abbas-Mustan wanted the film to be more stylish than the other films. The ambience is saturated with vibrant colours and smooth songs (Himesh Reshammiya). The artwork, cinematography and editing are flamboyant without flaunting the glamour quotient or giving away the film's illogical plot.

If this is meant to be a whodunit then the denouement comes as a big disappointment. But since the film showcases some truly eye-catching actors in ritzy clothes and sets that try to be upmarket and non-garish, you tend to forget how weakly the whodunit whimpers to a finish.

Paresh Rawal and Johnny Lever with their respective screen-wives Payal Rohatgi and Tenaaz Lal know how to roll their eyes without losing their focus on the film's suspenseful ambitions.

But the dialogues are the pits. The joke about calling a lady a bomb that Upen Patel uses to flirt was used by Akshaye Khanna in Subhash Ghai's "Shaadi Se Pehle". Aridity of ideas or just production control?

What really carries the script beyond its inherent wishy-washiness are the actors. Akshaye Khanna, better here being serious after his over-the-top comedy in "Shaadi Se Pehle" last month, plays the investigative officer with arresting élan. 

Vivek Shouq as his assistant has been given some deft behind-the-scenes humour to make his character come alive.

Shahid and Kareena as the couple on the run share a warmth that somewhere transcends the plot. Kareena's chiselled beauty pervades the film, superseding the bevy of feminine beauties, including Priyanka Chopra's endearing walk-on part, whereas Shahid's comic timing and energy are eminently endearing.

Upen as the Casanova in the casino makes an unusual stylish debut. He dances with confidence and holds his own even among the accomplished ensemble of actors. 

"36 Chinatown" courts frivolity without falling flat on its face. There's a certain momentum to the humour that doesn't get diluted by the depleted denouement. 
  
'36 China Town' to be a hit address?
Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, May 3 (IANS) Audience expectations from "36 China Town", releasing Friday, are riding high on director duo Abbas-Mastan's reputation for churning out hit thrillers.

The duo returns after two years with a murder mystery starring Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapur. 

The film will also be an acid test for the lead pair Kareena-Shahid who failed to strike the right chord with "Fida". "36 China Town" gives them another chance to cash in on their off-screen chemistry.

The thriller revolves around a missing child whose mother offers a huge reward for whoever brings her son back.

Raj (Shahid) and Priya (Kareena), two strangers struggling to make a living in a new city, find the child and decide to share the reward money. But when they reach the child's house, they find the mother dead.

Panicking, they flee, leaving behind a suitcase and their footprints, which make them the prime suspect.

Enter Inspector Akshay (Akshaye Khanna), who is given charge of the case. He realises that the case is not as simple as it seems as new suspects keep popping up daily. How Akshay finds the killer forms the climax of the movie.

The film is also a launching pad for model-turned actor Upen Patel who plays a playboy in the movie.

The music director is Himesh Reshammiya, who has also sung a song for the film that is already climbing up the hit charts.
 

Abbas-Mastaan set to conquer box office again
By Nidhi Pathak and Nitin N. Sethi, Indo-Asian News Service

Mumbai, Jan 20 (IANS) Abbas-Mastaan's big budget "36 China Town", starring Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapur, is just one of the many movies the duo has lined up this year.

They have two untitled projects to be made under the Shri Ashtvinayak banner. One of these projects will feature Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan and Bipasha Basu, while the other will see Dutt with three aspiring actors, reports Bollywood Trade.

Both the films will go on the floors in September.

The duo has made edge-of-the-seat thrillers like "Khiladi", "Baazigar", "Soldier" and "Ajnabee".