Big laughs from ‘Chintu’

Film: Chintuji
Cast:  Rishi Kapoor, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Kulraj Randhawa
Director: Ranjit Kapoor

When you watch this heartfelt, charming satire, you can’t help but be amazed that Rishi Kapoor played this titular role. He plays a not-all-positive version of himself with energy, becoming the part and taking the audience on an unexpectedly enjoyable ride.

The residents of a fictitious village, Hadbahedi, live a pure, simple, Gandhian life. But they want to put their village on the map. During the search for a brand ambassador, they discover that Raj Kapoor’s son Chintu was born in Hadbahedi.

Keeping his political dreams in mind and egged on by his publicist (Randhawa), Kapoor responds to an invitation and arrives in the one-horse town with a suitcase full of attitude. His welcome speech begins with ‘If I had my way, I would have been born in the UK or Hollywood, but I had to be born here’.

What follows are various instances of unreasonable demands which the residents gamely comply with, later doing penance for their dharam bhrasth. The story follows Chintuji’s stay in Hadbahedi and the triumph of good over evil.

Writer Ranjit Kapoor, credited with dialogues for Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron and The Legend of Bhagat Singh, among others, makes a respectable directorial debut. He creates some insightful situations and characters (like Saurabh Shukla as the over-budget B-grade filmmaker) but also resorts to a few ungainly gimmicks.

Chintuji is a simply told tale with notable performances by the supporting cast. But it really belongs to the two Kapoors — Ranjit and Rishi.