चोरी चोरी चुपके चुपके

Chori Chori Chupke Chupke is about a newly married couple, Raj and Priya (Salman Khan and Rani Mukherjee). Priya cannot conceive after an accident which made her miscarry a previous pregnancy, and they finally decide to use a surrogate mother, who will carry their child. They pick Madhubala, a vulgar prostitute (Preity Zinta). This element in the film is obviously not very realistic. I mean, isn't it easier to adopt? And even if they pick a girl, does it mean the man has to sleep with her? I guess the writers have not heard of artificial insemination, but I guess if they had, the film wouldn't have been made, so anyway let's get on. So yes, they hire the services of this young, crude woman, who knows nothing about anything but has good intentions and a kind heart deep within. She agrees to help them, but what about her? Will she ever realise what she's doing?

The film is generally a nice watch. Despite its flaws, it has an engaging story, many familiar faces, and great songs. The big family thing is evidently a take-off on Hum Aapke Hain Koun, which is not a bad thing, since audiences must love this concept. That the film relies on a host of character actors and not a single villain is quite nice; actors who are often made to play the bad guys, find themselves here as nice uncles or grandpas; in particular Amrish Puri shines in his wholesome, kind grandpa avatar. The cinematography is quite bad, and so is the lack of originality in the script. Particularly annoying is the chain of sequences lifted straight off Pretty Woman. Why? Does it hurt to attempt some originality, Abbas? Mustan? Anyone? Those watching will likely find these portions quite distracting especially because of how poor they are, compared to the original.

Similarly, the lead pair struggle with poorly written parts, although their chemistry isn't very bad. Khan plays his part pretty well. It's nice to see him take a serious character for once, although he tends to underplay it a tad too much. Moreover, the cheap dialogues about his great love for his wife and how hard he finds it to sleep with another woman were quite cheesy and redundant. Mukherjee, who is pretty and radiant, is just about okay acting-wise; this isn't entirely her fault because the part is really just another derivative manifestation of numerous previous prototypical female roles of the sort, serving age-old ideas and lacking depth and complexity. Still, she is generally effective and tries her best to somehow enhance an otherwise stereotypical part of the traditional, ever-giving wife. Eventually, both take a back seat to make room for the entrance of Preity Zinta.

And indeed, the film belongs to Preity Zinta, who steals the show with what gradually emerges as THE performance of the film. Even within a less credible film, and despite some faulty instances early on where she is made to scream a little too much, she manages to make the transformation from the loud prostitute to a sensitive woman most naturally, presenting a convincing and touching portrait of awakening and self-discovery. Due credit goes to Zinta, who is totally unaffected and free of pretense. She appears to live the role and makes you wish for her character's best interest, partly because of how the role is etched out, but mainly because of Zinta's magnetic and positive personality. This performance is easily the main reason to watch the film, and by the end, her Madhubala is the one you end up feeling the most for, more than you could initially imagine.

The film's poignant ending only highlights Zinta's position as the star of the show, and the directors probably realised right through the process that focus should be placed entirely on her character. It is therefore not very surprising that she gets to be the one on whom the film's beautiful title track is pictured. This number, where she is clearly positioned as the leading lady rather than a supporting character, is handled very well. It is also interesting that, except for one brief moment, we don't get to know much of her story and how she had wound up doing what she did. This was actually a very refreshing and welcome change that isn't usually employed by filmmakers in mainstream Hindi films. Madhubala is never a victim, and that is a half-achievement for this film. Watch Chori Chori Chupke Chupke for Preity Zinta. My high rating is easily for her sincere and moving performance.