In a way, it is fitting that its producers chose to release Chhalawa for Eid. No, it has nothing to do with the flashy song and dance numbers, the colourful wardrobe and the overly made up leads – both male and female.
No, it is fitting because it inadvertently perfectly encapsulates what most young people might experience on the inevitable family Eid gatherings that await them.
Who among us does not have uncles and aunts past their 50s who make us cringe when they innocently try to connect with us using contemporary references. Chhalawa unwittingly taps into the same vein and runs essentially like a two-hour compilation of cringeworthy dad and uncle jokes.
PHOTO: SCREENGRABBeyond the off-target humour, the Eid offering is a test in endurance if you do not enjoy having your intelligence insulted. It is, in almost every possible way, mediocre and predictable. The plot is one we have seen a million times before from both Bollywood, Lollywood and every studio system in between. And yet, even with such run down formula, the writing team manages to mangle it.
As the film inches towards the climax, all logic and comprehension are chucked out the window. To give you but a taste, a character who gets shot towards the end after learning he has been betrayed by his brother still laughs and groans while bleeding as the leads marry each other immediately after the obligatory fight scene. Why even bother with a writing team at this point.
The conflict between the film’s lead characters appears unmotivated and unwarranted. In what some might see as a refreshing change, although I am convinced it is an unintentional choice, the male lead seems to be entirely steered by his feminine counterpart’s choices.
PHOTO: INSTAGRAMWhen she says let’s run away, he runs away. When she says, on second thought, I’m marrying my cousin to make my dad happy, he protests only barely. I suppose it is sort of a positive that the film attempts, almost, to be feminist, although it lands widely off the mark in that respect as well.
Most disturbing though is the film’s treatment of suicide as punchline. It is one thing to use an act of such desperation in dialogue – we all have the right to hyperbole – but another to actually show one of your leads tying a noose around their neck over something as trivial as a tantrum. In a country where serious societal and financial pressures and undiagnosed mental conditions drive countless to a point of actual desperation, one cannot help but feel treating suicide so casually is in bad taste.
The only saving grace is I guess the song and dance sequences if you are into that sort of thing. Although the charm is lost on me, compared to the rest of the film, they appear to be competently shot and choreographed. The music could have been much worse as well.
PHOTO: INSTAGRAMThe actors do what they can, but with a script so camp and cheesy, that does not amount to much. The best performance they can muster is hammy to the max. I do believe there is an audience in Pakistan for such over the top acting, but that too is done a disservice by the writers’ inability to keep characters consistent.
Even so, I’ll stop short of calling Chhalawa the worst of its kind, as it seems there is always something worse around the corner. In this film’s case in particular, there are at least two more soon to be released movies that from trailers at least appear to follow the same formula.
Verdict: Watch only if song and dance numbers are the sole thing you look for in a movie and you don’t mind your intelligence being insulted. In every other respect, Chhalawa is predictably mediocre.
Rating: 2/5
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