MOVIE REVIEW: CHAMKU
RATING: * *

What could have been a tale well-told about the Naxalite movement in Bihar in the midst of its anarchy and corruption suddenly becomes a confused story about an assassin, a self-centered cop and furniture like sari-clad kindergarten teacher. Bobby Deol’s hiatus ends with no acclaim in Chamku.

A childhood gone sour at the hands of a powerful Chaudhary lands the central protagonist Chamku, (Bobby Deol) in the middle of the naxal movement only to find himself extirpated and forcefully thrown into a system where hard core criminals are used by the law for its scavenging drive. What the movie takes us through is the journey of the victim of the system first for it and then the manipulation of the system at his hands for himself and his freedom. What shines through the movie however, is his luck and miraculous escapes from death only to re-iterate how cinema is truly a figment of some man’s imagination running wild. 

While, Bobby Deol has done a good job in serious roles earlier, his talent is almost severely unutilized in the film that is confusing and abrupt all at the same time. Priyanka Chopra has no role at all. She can’t even qualify for good furniture in the film. Irrfan Khan too is wasted.

The director seems to have gone wrong with his initial trail of thought somewhere ending up with a formula that will beget nothing at the box office.