Chennai Express (2013)

March 23, 2019 7:42 AM

A man heading towards Rameshwaram via Chennai express to immerse his late grandfather's ashes unwillingly gets caught amidst goons after helping their boss's daughter and them board the train. This zany screwball comedy stars Shah Rukh Khan.
posted by DirtyOldTown (2 comments total)

I am still trying to get my head around the appeal of Shah Rukh Khan. He's really hammy. I can't say he doesn't have a certain charisma, but the jokes they give him (and that he seems to relish) are just 80s comedy silly.

This plot is the most standard, by the book, bog standard, romantic comedy caper road trip movie imaginable.

And yet...Rohit Shetty's direction is just terrific. The jokes may be obvious, but they flow with real energy and zip. And this movie just looks terrific. The colors, the scenery... The sets, the costumes... I can't really fault people for digging this, even with a weak script. It's just put together so well.

I don't think I'd recommend this, but I sort of get it.

I will make a quick note that this film, like SRK's Ra.One manages to cram in enough questionable representations of Tamil people that even being completely unversed in what the stereotypes are about South Indians, I could smell the stink and disparagement.

And the thing with the mentally disabled dwarf? Jesus.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:54 AM on March 23, 2019

Having subsequently seen DDLJ, the bit in this movie where SRK shrugs off amazement at whisking the girl onto the train saying, "Well... I have done that before" was a pretty funny callback to the earlier film.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:52 PM on March 24, 2019