Yash Chopra's 'Darr' glamorized psychopathic characters with style as it shot Shah Rukh to national fame. Every aspiring actor and director after that wants to materialize this concept with different characters, themes and plots. 'Chehraa' is one such film that tries to be in this category with one of the hottest pairs of Bollywood in it. Mental illness has given new dimensions to characterizations as it has given a ray of hope for experimentation. 'Chehraa' is unfortunately a semi-baked concept heavily fed on such a subject that will have ordinary results.
'Raaz' was a surprise hit as it shot Dino Morea and Bipasha to fame and glory. Despite its promising results the pair has couple of flops like 'Gunaah' and 'Ishq Hai Tumse' to their credit. Director Saurabh Shukla has tried his best in coagulating the pair chemistry in a psycho- thriller like this. Shukla has one of the awful scripts of the year as it fails in its narration and treatment. It can be treated as a half-baked love story with the extra spice and flavor of a crime thriller. It fails in both because of its weak characterization and ordinary screenplay. Bipasha Basu tried such a character in 'Madhoshi' opposite John Abraham and Priyanshu Chatterjee, but failed miserably. 'Chehraa' belongs to Bipasha as she has the maximum footage. She performs brilliantly in the climax. 'Chehraa' is product of Khwaish Movies as Dilkhush Doshi produces this film.
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'Chehraa' has one of the most complex scripts, and the audience fails to understand the objective of the film. Mentally challenged characters, half-baked love stories and poorly hatched climax add to the worry of the film and the audience. The film has three mentally challenged characters. One feels that the director does not trust the fidelity of normal characters. It sounds ridiculous but looks interesting from the director's point of view as the film enthralls in the first quarter.
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'Chehraa' revolves around Megha (Bipasha Basu), a fun loving girl studying in a medical college. Life is full of dreams and desires for her when she meets her colleague Akash (Dino Morea). Akash is madly in love with her and he expresses this in front of friends and colleagues. Reena (Preeti Jhangiani) is a silent admirer of Akash but is hesitant in expressing her feeling. Megha refuses Akash's call as she has a traumatized past of ill-fated childhood. She has one of the most forgettable and troublesome childhoods. Megha has a drunkard father (Govind Namdeo) and a sensitive mother (Navni Parihar).
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Megha's father ill-treats her mother and beats her. The evil doings of her father terrorize Megha and she nurses fear and agony in her mind. Megha and her mother run away from there to lead a peaceful life. Due to misbehavior and ill treatment her mother becomes mentally challenged. Fifteen years later her father emerges back and enters their lives. One day her father starts beating his wife mercilessly. Unable to bear her mother's agony she kills her father and runs away with her mother. During that time Akash leaves for America for higher studies. Life takes a vicious turn for Megha as she encounters Chandra Diwan (Irfaan Khan), a rich man's son. She marries him and becomes the pride owner of esteemed business empire.
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After five years Megha meets Akash as a psychiatric patient in a hospital. Megha behaves eccentrically as she has an illusion that someone is out to kill her. Her unusual behavior becomes a concern for her husband, Chandra, who has been a drug addict. Then Megha encounters him as his nurse. Megha wins the confidence of his parents and gets authority of his property and business. Is Chandra's past a fact or fiction? Is Megha mentally unfit or is she greedy for power and wealth? The plot is so confusing that one fails to understand the theme and nature of the story. The complexities in the characters are too many.
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In a least publicized and promoted film like 'Chehraa', the music is at an all-time low. No soundtrack has the feel to uplift the spirit of the film. "Kabhi Khamosh" is well choreographed as it encompasses Bipasha in a sensuous mood. All other songs are situational and fillers. Audiences have an eager anticipation of skin show but the film offers no scope. Bipasha's last hits 'Jism', 'Ajnabee' and 'Raaz' have loads of skin show as she was marked as the "oomph queen" of Bollywood. Bipasha shows a promise in emotional scenes. This is the sign of maturity and professionalism. Dino Morea impresses with his work as he has shown positive chemistry with Bipasha in the past. The film will not offer anything promising to him, as he has to wait for his next releases. After the critically acclaimed 'Maqbool' Irfaan Khan shows his villainous skills. He is brilliant at some places but seems to be typecast in such roles. Govind Namdeo, Navni Parihar and Preeti Jhangiani have been professional in their approach.
On the box-office 'Chehraa' seems to be a cold affair because of its weak promotion, mediocre script and below average music. Bipasha-Dino starrer will once again have torrid times. Saurabh Shukla disappoints completely as a director despite the fact he is a competent writer and actor.
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