Chaarfutiya Chhokare Movie Review: Why, But Why?

The promo pretty much gave it away. When unveiled around around three months back, it had led to shock and disbelief, albeit of a different kind. Shabbily cut with quite a few uninteresting moments woven together, it hardly seemed like an affair that would warrant Soha Ali Khan's presence in the narrative.

However, it did, and though one hoped that in due course of time there would be something better revealed, it was a complete anti-climax of sorts when all of a sudden it was announced that the film would now be releasing in a few days.

Well, after watching the film, one can well see why there was no further investment made on bringing anything new for the film's promotion. A film with outdated visuals and clichés written all over it, Chaarfutiya Chhokare is sold as a realistic affair whereas the fact remains that it is pretty much a boring affair that neither gets into the art-house zone nor commercial. While being centered on the theme of child trafficking, abuse and juvenile criminals, Chaarfutiya Chhokare had an interesting germ of an idea which, frankly, was lost in translation.

Now that's saddening because half a decade or so back, debutant director Faruk Kabir had done a much better job with his Naseeruddin Shah - Sharman Joshi starrer Allah Ke Bande that had dealt with the same backdrop. In case of Chaarfutiya Chhokare, if production values play truant, the makers further make a mess of the proceedings by coming up with several boring sequences that just do not register.

Of course for Soha, this could well have been her shot at a women-centric flick. Well, all one can say is that hats off to her for actually coming out of this with a straight face! As for Seema Biswas who is the middle aged lady out there in all the mayhem, she stays on to be her reliable self. Zakir Hussain is, well, being Zakir Hussain while Harsh Mayar (seen in I Am Kalam, Jalpari) is of course noticeable as one of the three 'chaarfutiya chhokare'.

However beyond that, one can't find 'chaar' reasons to watch this film, either in theaters or even at home. Oh yes, add to that some depressing music and it is game, set, match - Lost!