Review: ‘Aloo Chaat’ does not suit the audience’s palate

Spicezee Bureau

‘Aloo Chaat’, is not as appetizing and delectable as the title sounds. Although the director Robby Grewal has tried his best to integrate the right ingredients but somewhere the mixture has remained too bland to go with the taste of the audience. The film has too many themes but no message or clarity of presentation. It has East-West-cultural-divide angle pitched against Hindu-Muslim wedge in a saas-bahu type family drama. The story line is familiar and the conclusion predictable. Nikhil ( Aftab Shivdasani ) is a US returned Punjabi guy, who loves a Muslim girl Aamna ( Aamna Sharif ). He is sure that his conservative Punjabi family, comprising of his Papaji ( Kulbhushan Kharbanda ), Mummyji and Mamaji – will not accept a Muslim girl as his bride. So he hatches up a plan and seeks help from his uncle, a sexologist. He gets a bikini-clad foreigner (Linda Arsenio) to pretend as his fiancée while Aamna is to win over the family’s heart by her innocent and traditional ways. The attempt is to show the difference of samskars between the two girls. The end is anybody’s guess. However, at times there are some rare funny moments. Like the old grandmother suspecting Nikhil to be a gay and Nikhil’s suspicious mama creating troubles. But although the incidents create humour, they are not ingenuine. Aftab Shivdasani has given an average performance while Aamna Sharif has seemed to taken forward her ‘saas-bahu’ role. Linda Arsenio looks glamorous and the supporting actors have given an average performance. But for the title song, the music is not great and cinematography is just okay. Rating: One cheer!