Review - Chintuji: is cute but dispensable

Once upon a time, there was a little village city called Had-bahedi. The people there were content with what they had, despite knowing the world outside has a lot more conveniences. They were always happy to take when it's given without asking for anything. And then the world outside enters to impose itself on Had-bahedi. Yes, Chintuji is a fairy tale. And that by definition makes it imaginary. The writer is asking us to enter his make-believe world and think, "exactly what will it take for this to be the real world". Nice thought. But can't be taken forward given the complexities of the real world and their over-simplification for the sake of making it into a film.

There isn't much you can comment about plausibility of plot points when the whole concept is intentionally unlikely to happen. The actors are meant to behave like they were in a street play. They are very purposefully loud and exaggeratedly comic.

Sure, the actors are a bit of a saving grace. Very few can pull of being adorable while being arrogant like Rishi Kapoor. Priyanshu looks sincere as he should be. The rest are all just vague caricatures that represent Had-bahedi.

What remains then is the way the plot is carried out and to a certain extent the strength of the dialogues. Both are more or less mediocre. There are jumpy cuts, predictable situations and drama that is carried out way too long. The dialogues are wannabe non-preachy. Like a bolt of lightning a character asks an insightful question, realization strikes the questionee, and immediate transformation from haughty to charming happens.

Ultimately fairy tales unless fairly complicated make for good stories for children. But, since Chintuji is about corruption, politics, egos, etc it isn't kid-material either. And it is fairly simplistic too. So other than a quiet "well-tried" applause, there ain't much we can give it.