Movie review 'Charlie Kay Chakkar': A spine-chilling thriller in disguise
The absence of songs is probably the best aspect of this blurry, deceptive thriller
By : rohit bhatnagar
Update: 2015-11-07 01:00 GMT
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Amit Sial, Anand Tiwari, Auroshikha Dey, Disha Arora, Manasi Rachh
Director: Manish Shrivastava
Rating: 2 stars
The film starts with an unknown shaky video, which has a bunch of druggie friends, trying hard to convince the audience. The video takes you on a mysterious journey ahead, but it fails to come close to reality. Sam aka Charlie (Amit Sial), a spouting Catholic druggie, being the centre of attraction, instructs his friends Jeevan (Nishant Lal), Dips (Anand Tiwari), Nina (Manasi Rachh) and Patty (Anchal Nandrajog) to consume drugs and party till wee hours. One fine day, the gang unfortunately miffs another local goon Rahil (Sanam Singh Talwar) and it eventually turns into a drunken argument.
This leads to chase sequence where Rahil meets with an accident and dies on the spot. The helpless gang vanishes and creates a plan to decompose the mishap. Here comes Hera (Disha Arora), the sex siren of the town and alleged girlfriend of the dead Rahil. Since she was present at the club, she starts blackmailing the gang. The gang meets Hera and she leaves only one deal to save them from being accused of her boyfriend’s murder. She introduces the gang to a drug-pedalling racket run by Jabbar (Siraj Mustafa). Sohail (Subrat Dutta), Hera’s druggie helper keeps a watch on the gang as per her instructions. Gradually, Charlie and his gang are embroiled into the web spread by Hera and Sohail.
Sanket Pujari (Naseeruddin Shah) plays a role of additional commissioner of police, who is assigned to solve this not-so-chilling mystery. Along with Sanket, an investigative officer, Sameera (Auroshikha Dey) also joins him. Sanket and Sameera witness the entire footage and conclude the case. But this one hour 52 minutes thriller doesn’t ends here. The film sees a twist when Sohail reveals the truth and audience gets to expect the unexpected.
With the poor narrative, Charlie Kay Chakkar Main leaves no chills among the eyeballs. Audience are left pining for a nail-biting thriller which was promised at the beginning of the film. Narration of the mystery on a live video is an old recipe for Bollywood. Films like Ragini MMS, Aa Dekhen Zara had already made the audience meets an oddball. Joining the list is Charlie Kay Chakkar Mein which could have been made effectively. Sound design by Ravi Dev Singh leaves no impression and goes unnoticed. Performances of Amit Sial, Manasi Rachh, Nishant Lal, Siraj Mustafa, Subrat Dutta, Auroshikha Dey are just about average, but Naseeruddin Shah and Anand Tiwari do justice to their roles.
The absence of songs is probably the best aspect of this blurry, deceptive thriller. The canvas of the film seems irritating as almost every smoking scene, of which there are many, is accompanied by a disclaimer agianst smoking. There are many cuss words in the film due to which the film has got an A-certificate. But it all appeared to be well-knit as part of the script. Shot entirely in the streets of Mumbai by S.V.Visheshwar, characters and locations in the film look slightly relatable.
Debutante director Manish Shrivastava couldn’t manage to deliver a spine-chilling criminal drama. It was an irrelevant puzzle of a misleading tale. Producer Karan Arora made the film to look like a low-budget one. Co-produced by actor Amit Sial himself shows his vision to make unconventional cinema but he still have a long way to go. Charlie Kay Chakkar Mein is a mix cocktail of drugs, cops, gangsters and youngsters, which could have been made deliciously! Advice not to sip.
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