Review: 'Challo Driver'

Film: Challo Driver
Cast: Vickrant Mahajan, Kainaz Motivala, Prem Chopra
Director: Vickrant Mahajan
Rating: **

The nicest thing that can be said about Challo Driver is that it’s not atrocious. That said, it’s no prize either.

The story is that of a puritanical slave-driver-with-a-heart Arjun Kapoor (played by Mr director Vickrant Mahajan himself) and a typical Punjabi girl with an attitude Tanaya Malhotra (Kainaz Motivala). Tanaya, in need of money in order to start her own adventure travel agency, slips into the driver' s seat to play chauffeur to Arjun and that is what the entire film revolves around, a woman doing a man's job and dealing with the verbal sexual harassment that follows women stepping out of conventional roles.

I’m sure the film was supposed to be a comment on feminism and the film stays true to it in quite a few ways but slips again and again in order to make it the typical Mills&Boons saga it turns out to be.

The film progresses as a very simple straight-up tale of love slowly blooming between the two (who didn't see that coming), In fact it is so simple that Mahajan doesn't even bother introducing a harrowing enough twist to give the story any depth. I don't know whether to appreciate the simplicity of it, or yawn.

The film is categorised as a "romcom" (romantic comedy). Now, is it a 'rom'? Yes most definitely, the romance is just waiting to happen from the very first scene, but is it a 'com'? Only the scenes involving Manoj Pahwa, who gives a hilarious performance as Tanaya's loud and obnoxious Pappu uncle from Jalandhar who starts all his sentences with "oye..", qualify as comedy.

The performances are strictly average. After her strong performance in Ragini MMS, the bar was set high but Motivala, sadly, falls short. While there are moments where she is charming, she looks too made up and delivers her dialogues like an 8-year-old in a school play. Mahajan should have stuck to direction and let an actual actor with actual acting skills take the lead. Prem Chopra is okay but not worth going on about, and what VJ Juhi is doing in the film with her blank face and flat dialogue delivery is beyond me.

The concept behind Challo Driver is decent enough but a bad script, uninspiring  performances and the dialogues ruin what could have been a feel-good flick.

Should you watch this film? No. There must be better ways to spend your time.