Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii poster

Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii

wogma rating: Add to 'must watch' list (?) - This rating is for kids only!!

quick review:

While there is nothing spectacularly unpredictable about the storyline or the side-stories, there are subtle spontaneous moments along the way that make it an endearing watch overall. More so for the target audience - kids. It’s the preachy monologues towards the end and the on-the-face-ridiculous-climax that blemish the experience.

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Director: Kituu Salooja
Running time: 100 minutes
Genres: Fantasy, Kids, Sports
More Movie Info

There are no pretensions here of making this a profound message movie to please all ages. It is very clearly meant for kids below ten and doesn't lose focus. In fact, they bank heavily upon the supposedly limited movie watching experience of these children. This is evident through the very expected turn of events - from the micro sub-sub-plots to the ultimate climax. It’s the sweet understated instances that keep the wire live though.

Fantasy tales fascinate me immensely. We leave the whole world open for the storyteller to explore. He can take us anywhere he wishes with no obligation to stick to reality. It is entirely up to him to use the leverage that we so liberally give him. Yet Jay (story writer) has very admirably tried his best to remain rooted to the ground. The side effect though is that the basic plot is pretty much unimaginative and thus has no surprises.

The restraint shows in all other departments too. The camerawork very appropriately doesn't take you dizzying through MTV land. Which also means the editor is not behaving as if he has these new toys called 'scissors' and 'sticky tape'. Sorry guys, forgive me, I have still not overcome the shock called Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Visually, Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii equals a soothing boat ride on a calm lake while Jhoom Barabar Jhoom equals a rocky car ride on the potholed monsoon roads of Pune (India). Okay - digression ends here.

Rahul Bose is his usual calm and composed self too. The kids behave like kids except for the one or two times that they get all philosophical and reflective on the adults. Patently unnatural. And the other dialogues are too natural and thus basically boring. The music is actually infuriating. Especially "Sunday Sunday" which is a blatant copy of "Na bole tum na maine kuch kaha" of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0157339/"Baton Baton Mein.

However, I did quite enjoy the spoof cricket world created. They had it all - the mandatory Sardar (Sikh), the left-handed captain star-batsman, the Muslim pace bowler, the number 10 T-shirt, a coach that experiments with the batting line-up, and last but not the least - a chauvinistic dig at the female commentator who "obviously" knows nothing about the game.

So, plan of action for the weekend - take the kids to the theater while you stay out looking for some other form of entertainment to alternate between loo and fag breaks. And at the end of it all, together you can say, "What fun!?"

- meeta, a part of the audience

12 reviewers(?) - 5 yays 4 so-so 3 nays

Warning: clicking on "full review" will take you to an external website that could contain spoilers.

Thumbs up, by Angel Rani, Deccan Herald : ...Bose had proved his acting skills long ago and here, he leaves the stage to Zain Khan.... full review

Thumbs up, by Renuka Vyavahare, indiatimes : ...helps you relax and lets the child in you take over the boring adult for a change... full review

Thumbs up, by Manisha Vardhan, Movie Talkies : ...Zain Khan, who plays the role of Karan is quite outstanding... full review

Thumbs up, by Satyajit, SmasHits.com : ...delivers a "magical" tale that promises entertainment for kids... full review

Thumbs up, by Times News Network, Times of India : ...They do manage to tug at your heartstrings when the bonding begins... full review

So-So, by Rajeev Masand, IBN Live : ...Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii is engaging because it's simple and because it doesn't really digress from its plot.... full review

So-So, by Vaibhav Wankhede, M TV : ...It wasn't al bad, but it wasn't as boring as I expected it to be... full review

So-So, by Patcy N, Rediff : ...I found it cute... full review

So-So, by Naomi Datta, Times Now : ...It is a predictable but sweet film, with a little message tucked away somewhere as well!... full review

Thumbs down, by Martin D'souza, Glamsham.com : ...there’s no story so I will not even attempt to tell one... full review

Thumbs down, by Taran Adarsh, IndiaFM : ...doesn't really measure up to the expectations of either adults or kids... full review

Thumbs down, by Mayank Shekhar, NDTV : ...a film should either be pure fantasy or an emotional drama. This one attempts both. So partly fails at both.... full review

Twitter reviews for this movie are not available.

5 readers - 2 yays 1 so-so 2 nays

Want to Watch, by backlinks

Yay! Thumbs Up, by Hindilyrics4u.co.un : Fantasy tales fascinate me immensely. We leave the whole world open for the storyteller to explore.

Yay! Thumbs Up, by Telugulyrics.co.in : Fantasy tales fascinate me immensely. We leave the whole world open for the storyteller to explore.

So-So, by Hindilyrics4u.co.in : Fantasy tales fascinate me immensely. We leave the whole world open for the storyteller to explore.

Nay! Thumbs Down, by nike air force 1 : San Diego

Nay! Thumbs Down, by uCoz Scripts

This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.

Plot Summary

Karan (Zain Khan) is an orphan who chances upon a cricket bat that empowers him to be the wildest batsman ever. Lady luck takes him through to the Indian cricket team. The movie is then about his interactions with the captain of this team, Varun (Rahul Bose).

What Worked

  • The transition of Karan from a street kid to a star batsman was done very well. The focus never shifted from him being naïve about the ways of high society. From diction to mannerisms.
  • Names of the cricket commentators - Nadira and Maru - purely coincidental that they rhyme with Mandira and Charu.
  • The crack on the inanities of cricket commentators. Excellent dig!

What did not

Note: This section simply lists the things that I did not like in this movie. This is not the overall impression about this movie. Please read the full review here

  • The predictable way in which the movie began. The dream sequence and the morning at the orphanage were plain silly.
  • Monologues, first by Rahul Bose and then by Zain Khan.
  • The climax of the last match! The tone and direction of the last ball did not match the overall tone of the movie at all.

Nitty-Gritty

This section lists things that I think are not important to the overall impact of the movie. In most cases, it could be explained away by something like, "we noticed the glitch after the scene was shot and there were schedule/budget issues and thus we could not re-shoot it". I like giving the makers the benefit of doubt, but I am amused nevertheless. Hopefully, they will tickle you too.

  • Kapil Dev's signature changed towards the end of the movie.

Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii - Cast, crew, links

Official Sites:
Producer:
Director:
Supporting Cast:
Screenplay:
Dialogues:
Cinematography:
Running time:
100 minutes
Reviewer:
Language:
Country:
Genres:

Comments (10)

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so finallly u got time out from ur FTII course. anyway howz the course going? helpful?

[...] Original post by meetu [...]

Hi Meetu,

Since you are busy and stopped posting on BestOfIndya I posted link to this review.

Vote for this review at http://www.bestofindya.com/news/story.php?title=Review_-_Chain_Kulii_Ki_Main_Kulii_-_without_giving_the_movie_awayhellip

Yep, the course is over, amit. :-( I'll write about the course in better detail in the coming weeks.

indya, i posted the review yesterday on bestofindya, as soon as I posted it here. Please check and let me know.

Hi meetu,

I checked and noticed that you did post and status was set to discarded as you probably you didn't press the final submit button.

Thanks,

Neo

Meetu,
it would be great if you could share your xps and learnings at the recent course you attended.

thanks

[...] Meetu : ” So, plan of action for the weekend - take the kids to the theater while you stay out looking for some other form of entertainment to alternate between loo and fag breaks. ” [...]

I am def going to watch this movie....DVD for me...

indya, I did see my submission posted at the site. Anyway, all's well now.

Certainly Neo! Have loads to write about, just give me a little time. As soon as I cover my backlog at work, home, e-mail...Thanks for your patience :-)

Mehak, if you know kids you can take to the movie, it would be fun for them. Very rarely do you have a movie made for kids that is not outright cheesy.

barun, I couldn't agree more. Thanks for stopping by.

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