I quite like this film. It seems superficially like Saathiya but is also quite different. Shahrukh plays a self made small time transport business owner and is a very down to earth character. He meets a rich high society girl, played by Rani, and falls for her. He "misplaces" her and then after much searching finds her only to be told she is marrying an old friend in Greece. So off to Greece we go and by the end of the trip she is convinced she loves this man - she never did profess to love her childhood friend. They marry and then the story takes us into an inside look at the marriage between two opposites. Sparks fly, fights are followed by reconciliations until there is an irreconcilable misunderstanding over money and a major rift occurs. She goes off to her family, and he is left to pine... There is an inevitable happy ending, but do things resolve themselves as expected? Not really, and this is where I find Chalte Chalte most endearing. It is quite usual to show "reformed" characters, ideal solutions, in Hindi cinema. Chalte Chalte tells us that in relationships one must accept one's partner for what he or she is and not expect that they will magically be altered or reformed to fit our idealized version.
I found SRK's portrayal of Raj the transport biz owner very authentic. His romancing Priya (Rani) was sweet and never very over the top - yes I even liked the hokey feel of Gumshuda, and Suno Na Suno Na was divine in sound and picturization. The same old romantic dude? Perhaps, but much more vulnerable and real this time around. I liked his drunk act, his trashing the apartment. The one OTT moment was at the airport. Rani was fabulous as Priya, stunning in looks and in her conflicts with Raj. This movie was when I first felt that she was a serious actress. Taube Tumahre yeh Ishare - that was one sweet love ballad. Lillette Dubey was a little OTT but I like her so that was no big deal.
The music was good, and Prem Nagariya reminded me so much of Aisa Des hai mera (Veer Zaara) - but it came before!! Overall - I gave Chalte Chalte an 8 because I liked the story, the music, the acting and most of all the reality that it is hard for human beings to change what is their true nature.
