Movie Review : Chamku

Chamku (action)
Cast: Bobby Deol, Priyanka Chopra
Direction: Kabir Kaushik Chamku (action)

OKAY, so Hindi films find a new hero this time. He's the naxalite who first kills the corrupt state agents and then ends up killing for the state. Now that's quite a bold step for Bobby Deol who decides to don a different role as Chamku, the favourite lieutenant of a Pushkin-reading Danny Denzongpa who talks of class conflict and revolution from his secret adda in the dense jungles.

The film begins on a promising note with some imaginative frames capturing the action as Bobby goes about his business with deadpan glee. But midway, you realise the Naxalbari was just a convenient ploy to package the same old formula of an action hero who is out to avenge the death of his father. Chamku was actually a happy village boy who saw his father being shot by the local thakur and could never rest happy ever after. Not even when he finds the chiffon-clad school madam (Priyanka Chopra) who sings Yippie-Yippie, whenever she sees him. Strangely, she never knows what her brooding beau actually does, even though he keeps disappearing for covert missions for his new boss (Irrfan Khan).

The problem with Chamku is its disjointed script and its relentless flashbacks which mar a film that could have tread new ground. Although, we do laud the attempts of the Deol Inc to turn to serious cinema.