Review : Chocolate

The film is based in London, and is about a mysterious murder, robbery, arm theft and the resolution of it all. Shot differently, the story is narrated via intermittent flashbacks, interspersed with the present day. And although commendable in it’s effort, this desi adaptation of “The Usual Suspects” drags it’s feet, and lacks pace in the first half. Shallow, one dimensional characters do not garner audience sympathy. The second half has one intrigued but does not come together.

Chip, Deva, Rocker, PP and Sim are 5 musical friends, who come together to make music in the evenings after their day jobs end. Sim or Simran (Dutta) is a lucre-loving gold-digger, PP (Irfan Khan) an artist, Chip (Warsi) a computer hacker, and Rocker (Shetty) steals cars. Devaa (Hashmi) is a musician. Among these five people with very different personalities, there are under-current of conflict and attraction. Mysteriously one day, a sum of 20 million pounds is stolen, and 30 people are killed on a boat carrying arms. Rocker, also dead, is blamed and his friends Sim and PP are hauled in for questioning by the British cops. Monsoon, a journalist gets wind of the news, and persuades cocky and succesful attorney Krish Pundit to take their case.

As Krish delves into the intricacies of the case, and tries to get the story out of Sim and PP, many versions emerge. The depiction of the story versions, in flashbacks, take up most of the film. Krish then defends them in the court. Does he succeed in setting them free ?

The first half of the film is insipid. The second half fares better. Kapoor is full of bluster and swagger, and unbelievable, and looks unintelligent. Warsi as Chip has a short role, and is wasted in inconsequentialities. Among the rest, the only one who can act is Irfan Khan, and he does a good job as the sly, manipulative PP. Tanushree, poured into skin-tight, miniscule bits of clothing, desperately needs to improve her acting. Sushma Reddy in very mismatched, non-chic clothing (is this what British journalists wear ?) adds very little to this film, with her non-existent acting skills (or was it the badly defined role/character ?).

Direction is passable, but not consistent. The dialogues are flashy and screenplay not watertight (as it should be when attempting a suspense film). The script has moments of interest in the post-interval half, and obvious red-herrings are scattered throughout (what ? cinema for dolts ?). Honestly if you can get through the first half, (where I was sorely tempted to shut off the film) it does get better. I was intrigued by the whole rapidly changing story thing – so yes there’s suspense. The characters are highly unlikeable people, mild deviants really, badly developed in the film, so you really aren’t rooting for anyone, and you don’t really care if they live or die. This is a major flaw.

The music of the film is very good, almost all numbers haunting and catchy. “Halka halka sa” reminded me of “Pehla Nasha” from “Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar”.

All-in-all worth watching once.