Bollywood's most successful director-duo of present generation Abbas-Mustan rocks the marquee again with their tried and tested genre-suspense thriller. '36 Chinatown' makes their twelfth presence at the box-office and surprisingly their rising graph is attributed to the success of suspense thrillers. This Abbas-Mustan thriller is a suspenseful adventure with fast-paced plots and action, where resourceful but downtrodden heroes are pitted against evil and venomous traps of villains; the hero facing danger in the company of a small band of companions. Treacherous villain, who presents hurdles that the hero must overcome to prove his innocence, conceives this engrossing plot.
'36 Chinatown' is a contemporary suspense thriller with the age-old concept of "whodunit" factor with overlapping of plots and sub-plots. It uses the gambling paradise "Hollywood Casino" as the epicenter of the entire spine- chilling happenings. The caricatures of these happenings range from hotshot love couples to slapstick comedians who add spice and flavor to this intriguing and intimidating tale. The actors deliver the needful, but it's the ordinary screenplay that makes it an average affair. It will be the trendiest presentation from the director-duo where the film is loaded with bevies of beauties.
click for larger view
Spearheaded by the special appearances by Tanushree Dutta and Priyanka Chopra it fails to woo audiences. The film has a line-up of actors who form the missing links in this "whodunit" murder mystery. Paresh Rawal's comical histrionics score the most whereas Akshaye Khanna shows his strength in his author-backed character. Believe it or not, but fortunes were made for today's hottest celebrities (Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra) with films like 'Baazigar', 'Khiladi', 'Humraaz' and 'Aitraaz'. '36 Chinatown's success means make or break for many starlets and it includes stars like Shaahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor and newcomer Upen Patel. Shaahid who has hat tricks of failures is groping for a surprise hit with his ex-flame Kareena Kapoor opposite him. After the debacle of highly publicized 'Fida' this comes as their second outing at the box-office. Unfortunately, it will be a disappointment for the Shahid-Kareena pair and they will have to wait for Priyadarshan's 'Chup Chup Ke'.
click for larger view
Unlike sexual deceit 'Aitraaz', wife-swapping 'Ajnabee' or vendetta saga 'Baazigar', this is a long suspense fiction with more than half a dozen protagonists involved in murder mystery suspense. This thriller also includes the mental histrionics of spy adventures from the Sherlock Holmes style of spy adventure from Akshaye Khanna.
click for larger view
'36 Chinatown' is high voltage murder mystery and it revolves around the murder of wealthy woman entrepreneur Sonia Chang (Isha Koppikar). Sonia is affluent and prosperous Casino owner and runs his gambling business in full strength. She has one love in her lif -- her baby boy Vicky. When he is suddenly missing, she is mentally upset and to get him back she offers astronomical reward money. Unfortunately, the fate has different plans and it includes her murder on one fateful day. Rocky (Upen Patel) is a rich socialite "playboy" who loves to flirt with beautiful girls. He has good relationships with Sonia and plays important role in her business life. Raj (Shaahid Kapoor) is a struggling actor who is finding difficult to survive in high-profile Mumbai life. Priya (Kareena Kapoor) is betrayed by her ex-boyfriend and like Raj she is fighting for her survival in the city. Luckily, both of them find Vicky (Sonia's child) and decide to divide the reward money. Raj finds true companion in Priya, and love chemistry between the two develops fast. On their arrival at "36 Chinatown" (Sonia's residence) they are shocked to find her dead.
click for larger view
In a state of shock they run from there but leave their suitcase and footprint behind. They try to get their suitcase back but are trapped and becomes the prime suspect of the murder. KK (Johny Lever) and his wife Ruby (Tanaz Lal) are there to spend their vacation in Goa. It's during their stay that they encounter another happy-go-lucky couple - Natwar (Paresh Rawal) and Gracy (Payal Rohtagi). Ironically, both KK and Natwar are addicted to gambling and lose all their money on the fateful night. It's during that fateful night that all of them visit Sonia's residence - "36 Chinatown". Investigating officer Akshaye (Akshaye Khanna) handles this case and his needle of suspicion is points towards everybody. Everybody has reasons to visit "36 Chinatown" but have no major motive to kill Sonia. The murder mystery goes thicker and it goes through turbulent faces of spine-chilling thrills and slapstick comedy. It would be unwise to declare the "killer" but the film holds the suspense till the last reel. Besides all the necessary "masala" the climax of the film is a big let down. Once again the director has failed to rope in good ending to high-voltage action drama.
click for larger view
'36 Chinatown', is promoted as suspense thriller but lacks the high-impact suspense quotient. The biggest disappointment comes in the field of narration and the preposterously planted climax. The film promos promise it to be loaded with gloss and sheen but high glamour quotient can't be the success formula of murder mystery. It seems the director-duo are highly impressed by the success of comical hits. The second half of the film makes it a slapstick entertainer rather than a murder mystery. Even the characterization lacks the penetration. Despite all the important ingredients of contemporary potboiler, the climax of the film is a downer.
click for larger view
Shaahid Kapoor tries to tickle funny bone but disappoints in his over- confident attire. Kareena Kapoor is wasted as glam doll and hardly delivers anything promising. Johny Lever's comical acts are simply average. Paresh Rawal is the impressive of the lot and it shows in the sequence where he hides his whereabouts from Akshaye Khanna. The veteran comedian has delivered the needful and deserves accolades. Tanaz Lal fits into the character well. Payal Rohtagi gets the best possible screen appearance in her sagging career. She has revealed her physical assets but her footage has limitations. Newcomer Upen Patel is another promising factor of the film. Despite the fact that his voice is dubbed he shows promise in all aspects. Akshaye Khanna's spy act is commendable and is the only saving grace among the lead performers.
click for larger view
Himesh Reshammiya's music is the biggest plus point of the film. It has given the desired thrust to film promotion but it's pity that songs are not well coagulated with the script. It's ridiculous to view two songs within a gap of five minutes ("Aashiqui Mein Meri" and "Jab Kabhi"). Even the rest of the tracks ("24x7, "Dil Tumhare Bina") are unnecessarily accommodated to improvised the glamour quotient of the film. After 'Aksar' and 'Aashiq Banaya Apne' the successful tracks of Himesh Reshammiya have been under utilized.
click for larger view
Producer Subhash Ghai and Abbas-Mustan's first presentation 'Aitraaz' was groundbreaking success but this disappoints. The film suffers from poor scripting, shoddy screenplay despite high face value, melodious music and aspiring names. The promotion of the film will create craze in early days but later the film has to rely on good mouth publicity.
