0 / 4 STARS
DIRECTOR: A. VENKATESH
ACTORS: PRASANTH, LIVINGSTON
ACTRESSES: JAYA RE, MUMTAJ, SUHASINI
MUSIC DIRECTOR: DEVA
STORYLINE:
Worst Picture of the Year -- 2001!
Aravind (Prasanth) is a college student who hangs around with a bunch of characters (usual suspects Charlie and Dhamu) who spend all their time teasing girls. They also have a more elder friend, a Police Inspector (Livingston) who is separated from his wife (Suhasini). Livingston and Suhasini also have one daughter, namely Anjali (newcomer Jaya Re). Needless to say, Aravind and Anjali fall in love (without Aravind even knowing she is the daughter of his friend).
The twist in the tale comes with Suhasini as villain. Since she wants Anjali to marry only the "maappillai" she selected herself, she asks Aravind to pretend he is not in love with Anjali.
Will Aravind ever reunite with Anjali, despite Suhasini's underhanded scheming? Do we even feel up to finishing the movie to watch out?
COMMENTS:
Oh my GOD. How are movies like this even made? It's amazing to think that people actually got together and decided this movie was worth making. It's even worse than Star, Prasanth's outing. If Star was bad bad bad, then Chocklet, with its ridiculous spelling, is worse worse worse.
Number one -- far too many coincidences in the plot. I mean, come on! Suhasini is Jaya Re's mother AND Jaya Re's teacher. Suhasini is Prasanth's teacher. Livingston is Prasanth's friend. Livingston is the father of Jaya Re. Livingston and Suhasini are married. It seems like out of the billion people living in India, all people integral to this plot knew each other beforehand.
Number two -- enough with the crudeness. Audiences in India applauded the comedy of Aasaiyil Oru Kaditham and Good Luck and Hello, saying that though it was crude, it was funny. I never even thought all that crudeness was funny to begin with, but Chocklet takes it even further. Every single line is unabashedly horrid. The thing is filled with double entendres; heck, there's even a running joke about lesbians. Not only is the dialogue crude, both main actresses run around in as little clothing as required in every given scene. Usually it's only the second heroine required to do that, but here, both Jaya Re and Mumtaj (in a double role, no less) do the job.
Number three -- (spoiler comment) Prasanth is brought back to LIFE? My God, what is this, a "saami padam"? Didn't that seem stupid to the director, even though he does explain it through the unarguable "God" reference. Jeez.
Number four -- while Suhasini acts well, her character is very unbelievable, and because she's the domino that eventually starts the plot, that is unacceptable. The simple implausibility of her character will probably steal "Best Supporting Actress" away from her. It's her own fault; why did she pick this movie to make her comeback in?
Number five -- the story is bad, the direction is bad, the songs are bad, and I could go up to number ninety-six, if I had the time and the inclination. That is why "Chocklet" has been elected Worst Picture of the Year.
NOTE ON THE MUSIC:
Bo-oring. They're there to give the female leads (more of) a chance to shed (more) clothing.
RECOMMENDATION:
Skip it. I wish I had.
VIJAY VANNIARAJAN