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Ranjit Kapoor's story is divided into two major halves and only of them manages to hold the intrigue.
Chehre Movie Review Rating: 2.5/5 Stars (Two and half stars)
Star Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Emraan Hashmi, Annu Kapoor, Rhea Chakraborty, Raghubir Yadav, Dhritiman Chatterjee, Krystle D’Souza
Director: Rumy Jafry
What’s Good: It has few very good performances but not all of them work in a way they should’ve to make this a decent final product
What’s Bad: A very interesting concept has been narrowed to add unnecessary drama toning down the desired feel of the story
Loo Break: Just as life, the second half of this film is full of opportunities (for a loo break)
Watch or Not?: Try, if you can get out before the film slides into the land of boredom
We travel through North India and pass through a snowstorm that seems almost real. We then enter a manor-like home with Sameer Mehra (Emraan Hazmi). Because of the freakishly arctic weather Sameer has no choice but to stay with two retired lawyers, a retired judge and a mysterious caretaker. What can you do to have fun with such law-loving people. You can mock trial!
Lateef Zaidi (Amitabh Bachchan), invited Sameer to participate in a trial about his real life. Paramjeet Sing Bhuller (Annu Kapoor), representing Sameer against Lateef (Dhritiman Chatterjee) is absent. Sameer, who is extremely confident, jumps in. The film tells the story of how this mock trial becomes a serious one and what Sameer is hiding.
Chehre Movie Review: Script Analysis
Ranjit Kapoor's story has two halves. Only one of these halves manages to keep the intrigue. The script's first section tries to imitate Quentin Tarantino’s "The Hateful Eight" but this is not the problem half. This is the most interesting. A stranger crashes into a bungalow full of smart but shady strangers. The story about the (yet innocent, smart and successful) businessman is what you are interested in.
That's all. The second half is a blur for the lovely house of cards that was established in the first half. Flashbacks that reveal Emraan Hashmi’s personal life are the second half of the story you have been eager to learn about. These portions are reminiscent of Emraan Hashimi's murder dramas, but poorly executed. Here is where the viewer starts to feel annoyed by a predictable, boring film in what seemed like a smart movie.
I could talk for hours about the film's poor CGI. There are many things that go wrong in this department, from a distinctly artificial snowfall to an entirely bizarre VFXized version of Rheachakraborty's hands. This makes the climax, which involves an avalanche/ice break accident involving a character, look far from real. If the film had been finished in the house, the final impact would have been much better.
Chehre Movie Review: Star Performance
Because of the inclusion of legendary artists like Annu Kapoor and Amitabh Bacchan, there are few flaws in performance. Even though the film is heavy on dialogues, Emraan Hashmi shines, which isn’t his forte. His natural charm and his'serial lover' (which he ironically wishes to get rid off) support the cockiness in his character. He can face any stalwarts with a wicked smile and the confidence to keep the act going, thanks to his wicked smile.
Amitabh Bachchan continues to experiment with his characters, but this time it isn't as successful. This character isn't a completely new one like in 102 Not Out. Instead, it has shades of Pink and other Badla characters. He uses a Sherlockian method to deduce but it's not often used.
Annu Kapoor gives a solid performance, backed by his trademarked eccentric dialog delivery. Kapoor Sahab performs his character as a contradiction to Amitabh's. Rhea Chakraborty is subtle but hamms at times. Although the character she plays (Aana), is difficult to manage, she manages to get through it despite her flaws.
Raghubir Yadav's role as 'Jalaad,' was a great opportunity to add some eccentricity. Instead, he's used too little to make an impact. Krystle Da Souza adds some extra oomph, but she fails to land in the most difficult parts of the movie. She is still a genuine act of kindness, even if you don't mind the events surrounding her character. Dhritiman Chatterjee is only about average, but he is not acting averagely. His role is written in an uninteresting way.
Chehre Movie Review: Direction, Music
Fun fact: Rumy Jafry wrote a film called "2 Chehre" (Suniel Shrika, Shatrughan Sinha) before directing Chehre (2015). It's not a sequel, but a coincidence. Rumy is currently directing two movies in one. The other, more boring film takes you back to the old'sleeping with the boss' wife' murder dramas. Chehre could have been a memorable film if Rumy had found a way for everything to be kept in the house and just focused on dialogues.
Clinton Cerejo's background score is nothing to be unhappy about as it perfectly fits into the proceedings. It is overqualified and doesn't allow you to feel the poor shift in the story. It was fortunate that there were only two songs in the film, as none of them form any sort of connection.
Review of Chehre Movie: The Last Word
Chehre could have easily been recognized as a movie from the School of Movies like Aamir and Table No 21 Pink, Badla, and Article 15. However, its structure lacks two important things that all the other films had, namely 'a good 2nd & 3rd act'. It was a good but misdirected effort!
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