Preity Trite

Sukanya Verma

It's finally out!

The arrest of financier Bharat Shah and producer Nazim Rizvi pushed back the release of Chori Chori Chupke Chupke delaying it by several months.

Fortunately, for the rest of its cast and crew, CCCC finally saw the light of the day as it hit the marquee on Friday.

Chori Chori Chupke Chupke draws its inspiration from Saawan Kumar Tak's Bewafa Se Wafa(Juhi Chawla and Vivek Mushran).

It's love at first sight for business tycoon Raj Malhotra (Salman Khan) and Priya (Rani Mukherji).
A bhangra session later the duo gets married.

They would have lived happily ever after. Save for the fact that in Bollywood, it is impossible for happy-ever-after after a mere four reels.

And so, Priya has a miscarriage and discovers that she'll never be able to conceive again. In a blatant propagation of the 'Indian woman is incomplete without motherhood', Priya pressurises Raj into finding a woman who would agree to have a baby with him and then hand over the baby to Mr and Mrs Malhotra.

Why not adopt? No wont do. The child has to be Raj's own blood or nothing else.

Like an obliging puppet, Raj hits the first bar in town and finds a crass, shabbily dressed hooker, Madhubala (Preity Zinta). Lured by money, Madhu is game to Raj and Priya's 'indecent' proposal.
Interestingly, the entire Raj-Madhu episode is a complete scene-to-scene rip off from Pretty Woman.

Once Madhu is presentable enough, she, Raj and Priya zoom off to the Alps, where Madhu gets pregnant. Meanwhile, there are complications galore in the trio's life even before the baby comes into this world.

Does Madhu develop feelings for Raj? Does Raj reciprocate? Who gets Raj? Who gets the baby?

So many questions. So little time.

So is Chori Chori Chupke Chupke worth a dekko?

Yes. If only for the acting, visuals and superior technical values.

Preity Zinta, who clearly has the meatiest part of all, makes the best of it. Her transformation from the cocky and unabashed prostitute to a sensitive and warm person is amazingly believable.

On the other hand, Rani Mukherji is handicapped with a role that doesn't give her much scope besides weeping and sobbing. To her credit, she manages to hold her own even while playing a stereotypical sacrificing bhartiya nari.

Salman Khan doesn't need to do much other than look good and cool. And he does exactly that.

Amrish Puri and Farida Jalal lend credibility in supporting parts. And Johny Lever provides a few good chuckles.

Director duo Abbas Mustan ( Khiladi, Baazigar, Soldier and Badshah) who churned only action thrillers till now, show a fair flair for family dramas. Now if only they had a better storyline.
CCCCboasts of breathtaking cinematography by Thomas Xavier. But Anu Malik's music disappoints.

CCCC leaves you with mixed emotions. On the one hand, it offers an absurd storyline. On the other, spontaneous performances by the entire cast make you overlook the cracks.

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