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If you have seen the trailers.. you know the genre of this movie. A light romantic comedy for a perfect family fun drama. That is exactly what Aloo Chaat gives you… It doesn’t disappoint you on that and thoroughly entertains you keeping you smiling and laughing almost throughout. But it does disappoint you when it comes to movie making technique and originality. Once I have finished watching this movie, I can think of a few movie names that this movie is like.. At the top of my list is Jhooth Bole Kauwa Kaate.. If you have seen that movie and remember the simple story movie style revolving around a family obcessed with rules and a web of lies tailored by Anil Kapoor and Juhi Chawla to breed their love, then this is exactly what Aloo Chaat is about.

But does that matter when the movie makes you laugh and keeps you happy for good 2-3 hours ???

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PLOT

Aloo Chaat is directed by Robby Grewal and produced by Anuj Saxena, A. P. Parigi and Gary S. under the Maverick Productions, Mirchi Movies Ltd. and Red-Ice Productions banner.

Aftab (Nikhil) has just come back from USA to his family in Delhi [India]. He is from a typical Delhi Hindu family with the traditional mindset. They want to get him married but he loves a Muslim girl he met in USA but too scared to tell them.

His uncle gives him the idea to lie and say he loves a white girl and let Aamna come in to the family that way with the “gori”. She can then make the family fall in love with her through the wedding preparations like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. haha..

The rest of the drama follows as one lie leads to another and the situation becomes a spicy mixture like an “Aloo Chaat”.

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REVIEW

Well so you are saying that you have heard this story a number of times before.. That’s true.. But how is this different?? Well it’s the supporting cast of this movie and the delivery style of a director that makes a difference to this story. Robby keeps it simple and light hearted throughout with very short situational jokes. The humour is quirky and in the typical Delhi’et Punjabi style which adds the extra spice to this Aloo Chaat.

The flow of the movie is smooth and easy. The edit is good and to the point. Thinking about it.. I can barely think of any extra and out of place scenes in the movie. The music is average with a few good tracks and you can read the music review here. The background music and sound design are a little cheesy at times with the use of some terrible sound effects. The dialogues are good but the screenplay is very limited with not much scope for experimentation or better performances by the actors. And the dialogues and screenplay are both by directory Robby Grewal himself.

The performance’s are plain average by the 3 leading stars Aftab, Aamna & Linda. There is not much for them to do anyway. But Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Sanjay Mishra & Manoj Pahwa are simply brilliant and a total laugh riot. Dolly Ahluwalia & Meenakshi are alright.

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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MOVIE

- NO action.. NO emotional drama.. NO romantic dance around the trees.. Just pure family fun and laughs glore.

- Great job by the supporting cast of Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Sanjay Mishra & Manoj Pahwa.

- Simple story and to the point edit keeping the movie nice and tight.

- RDB doing the music as our UK connection to Bollywood.

- The art work is good in the casting at the start.

- Has a message at the end and thus a purpose.

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LOWLIGHTS OF THE MOVIE

- An old story with no creative input twist to it.

- Very limited screenplay and not much performance scope for the main leading cast.

- Below average performance by Aamna for her big screen debut.

- Aftab is expressionless throughout the movie.

- Some very cheesy jokes with scenes trying to force the comedy.

- Limited and restricted comedy style that might not work with all type of audiences.

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FINAL WORD

Good – 7/10 .

Although I have heard this story before and seen a number of films on this line but I give it a decent score because… frankly.. this movie managed to keep me smiling and laughing occasionally through the entire duration of the film !! That’s the entire purpose of the movie and it manages to do that.. poor performances by leading cast and poor screenplay come in secondary. So if you like light family comedies.. then this movie is for you. If you have lived in Delhi or at least been to old Delhi .. that would be an added bonus as you will get the jokes easily. Enjoy this flick and keep smiling.

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Our talented UK boys are back after Singh Is Kinng with a chatpata mixture of music styles on this soundtrack called Aloo Chaat. Yup.. it’s RDB back in business in the massive Bollywood industry with their mix of Bhangra, Hindustani & RnB music styles… but this time with No Akshay Kumar around !!

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Aloo Chaat is yet another Bollywood romantic comedy starring Aftab Shivdasani & the gorgeous Aamna Shariff. It is directed by Robby Grewal and Produced by Anuj Saxena. The trailers of the movie are hilarious and seems like a proper wedding drama family movie based in Delhi. It is set for release in the UK on 20th March 09. Although a small budget flick with no major names in the cast, it surely seems to have the fun element that a normal man craves after a long day at work.

The music is not completely the work of RDB trio but the title song is and thus so has RDB on the cover as the main producers. The other composers on the album are Xulfi, Vipin Mishra & Mehfuz Mahruf. Lets find out what’s the soundtrack like that is already up on all the charts.

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REVIEW

Track 1 – Aloo Chaat (Title Song) – RDB try to give Bollywood the British MC rap flavour in this song. Quite frankly I am not a big fan of such rap style RDB work. They are best when they stick to authentic Bhangra beats and desi mixes. This track is not bad work but I know it does not have a mass appeal in India. You will have the rickshaw drivers switching channels as soon as this song comes on radio. It’s for the cool college crowd as is very “street”. Hate the rap by Smooth but love the vocals of real life couple Manj & Nindy Kaur. They sound fresh and their self written lyrics are good too. Don’t see this song going a long way as it lacks the Bollywood touch.. but surely is something new for that market. 6/10.

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Track 2 – Dhadke Jiya – This song is all about Xulfi. He has written it.. composed and produced the music.. and sung it too. He does a better job as a singer and impresses with the lyrics. The music is average and is prominently acoustic guitar based. I like this song & think it is one of the better romantic songs this year. With the right promotion, this track is heading north on the charts for sure. For a full package man Xulfi & his soulful rendition – 7/10 .

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Track 3 – Aloo Chaat – I don’t get it why this track is not the title song!! It’s very Bollywood and super cool. Vipin Mishra does the music and lyrics while the tiny sufi superstar Kailash Kher blesses the song with his voice and unique style. Other than his amazing vocals, this track has a very easy going but funky beat structure & pleasing fun lyrics. The texture of the beats with the Punjabi shouts creates a great blend with the bass. The predominantely Punjabi lyrics are full of rhymes and funny at times. My favourite track on this OST – 8/10 .

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Track 4 – Boliyaan (Giddha) – Now that’s what I am talking about when I say “RDB are the best when they stick to Bhangra”. NO music director in Bollywood can deliver a track like this !! A proper Punjabi wedding Giddah song like none other. It’s got the traditional lyrics back with the amazing vocals of Nindy Kaur and Manj. Am only doubtful of how did they ever imagine Manj’s vocals to suit Aftaab :/   But what the heck.. it’s a great song & will be my fav for all weddings I DJ at for sometime. 7.5/10 .

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Track 5 – Life Is A Sizzling Aloo Chaat – Kunal Ganjawal sings to the beats of Mehfuz Mahruf and the lyrics of Syed Gulrez. All in all.. it’s a dud package. I think it’s the most boring & at points, annoying !! Skip it.. It lacks sensible lyrics, catchy music and dynamic vocals. 4.5/10 .

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Track 6 – Dhadke Jiya (Remix) – Nah.. nahhhh… DJ Moody & DJ Imti work hard to transform a good track into plain average. They just add a beat to the original song.. The worse is they add re-verb & flanging effects to the amazing vocals of Xulfi and ruin them. 4.5/10 .

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Track 7 – Boliyaan (Giddha) (2nd Version) – RDB doing a 2nd version of the original Boliyaan. This is a more appropriate version of Mehndi ceremonies. It starts slower and then picks up all the way to the top. This is also the version used in the movie. Nothing majorly different in this version except for the pace. 7/10 .

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Track 8 – Aloo Chaat (Remix) – DJ Moody & DJ Imti don’t do a bad job on this ‘already very cool’ track. It has a slight Electro pattern to it but does not truly classify as that. It’s an average regular mix style that you very commonly hear. Nothing original or different here. 6/10 .

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FINAL WORD

Average – 6.5/10 .

The biggest saving grace this OST has is that it does not have any totally rubbish track on it. It’s full of average & slightly above average tracks. This makes the OST buy-able as you wont be spending the money just for a couple of good tracks. Plus we have RDB on it which any day adds a lot of weight to the sale value in the UK market.

Boliyaan is the track that opens the door of Bollywood to folk Punjabi music… while Dhadke Jiya brings out the talented Xulfi in the limelight. Aloo Chaat is my favourite track & recommendation. This album is unique to the Bollywood music market & is recommended. Lets see what the movie is like now..

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