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Anand Pandit Motion Pictures and Saraswati Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.’s Chehre (UA) is the story of four retired friends and a young and ambitious man who is the CEO of his company. The four retired people are: Jagdish Acharya, a retired judge (Dhritiman Chatterjee), Lateef Zaidi, a retired public prosecutor (Amitabh Bachchan), Bhullar, a retired defense counsel (Annu Kapoor), and Hariya, a retired hangman (Raghubir Yadav). The young CEO is Sameer Mehra (Emraan Hashmi).
Sameer Mehra is in a hurry to reach Delhi, for which he takes a shortcut. The shortcut proves a costly affair for him as a huge tree comes crashing down in front of his car. Bhullar, a stranger, takes him to close friend Jagdish Acharya’s house which is nearby. Hariya is already with Acharya when Bhullar and Sameer reach his bungalow. The three friends now await the arrival of the fourth friend, Lateef Zaidi. Meanwhile, Sameer makes himself comfortable in the huge mansion, assisted by a mysterious maid, Anna (Rhea Chakraborty). The four friends then initiate Sameer into a game which, they say, they often play. It is a mock courtroom trial which they conduct on guests like Sameer. Thinking that it is a harmless game, Sameer enjoys the game in the beginning but soon realises that there is more to it than meets the eye.
What is so frightening and sinister about the mock trial? Who is Anna? What do the retired friends want?
The film is based on Ranjeet Kapoor’s stage play which itself is an adaptation of James Yaffe’s play, Deadly Games. Deadly Games was based on Frederick Durrenmatt’s original story. In India, legendary Gujarati theatre director Kanti Madia had, years ago, made a play, Jagta Rahejo, in Gujarati, which had a similar story. The film’s story (by Ranjeet Kapoor) is very different from what one has seen on the Hindi screen. It is extremely engaging and keeps the audience hooked as it unfolds. The screenplay, written by Ranjit Kapoor and Rumy Jafry, keeps the viewers guessing, at least in the first half and the early part of the post-interval portion. Even after that, the audience cannot predict what’s in store although the intelligent among them might get a drift of where the drama is headed. As mentioned above, the first half is very interesting because right from the word ‘go’, the drama begins to thrill. Besides, the mysterious aura that is created in the writing keeps the viewers wondering what the film is all about. The heavy snowfall outside the mansion only adds to the mystery and fear factor. The second half is also good but it is not as engaging as the first half, probably because the flashbacks are not equally exciting. Lateef Zaidi’s monologue in the climax is too long and it also strays from the crux of the drama. Although comparisons are odious, the audience will mentally compare the monologue with the climax scene of Pink and the monologue in 102 Not Out, simply because the actor speaking the monologue in all the three films is Amitabh Bachchan. Unfortunately, in this comparison, the lengthy monologue of this film would rank the last. Besides this, there is a sense of incompleteness which the audience will experience after the film is complete, if only because no hint of the significant incident in Sameer Mehra’s life is given before the mock trial. Had the viewers even been let into the secret (by showing, perhaps, a 3-minute montage without too many dialogues) that there was something very significant in Mehra’s life earlier, they would get the feeling of having watched a complete film. Having said this, it must be added that overall, the screenplay is engaging and interesting. Since a good part of the main drama (as against the flashback drama) takes place inside the mansion, it does get a bit boring and tedious (visually speaking) for the audience. Also, since it is a cerebral story, the screenplay would appeal more to the class audience than the masses. Dialogues, penned by Ranjit Kapoor and Rumy Jafry, are excellent and add to the thrill of the proceedings.
Amitabh Bachchan (in a lengthy friendly appearance) does a wonderful job as Lateef Zaidi. He lives the role of the retired public prosecutor and thereby makes his performance entertaining and memorable. His get-up is nice. Emraan Hashmi performs wonderfully as Sameer Mehra. To stand his own in front of seasoned actors like Bachchan, Annu Kapoor and Dhritiman Chatterjee is no mean task but Emraan accomplishes that with ease. Krystle D’Souza is good as Natasha Oswal. Annu Kapoor makes a lovely mark as Bhullar and goes through his role as if he is enjoying every bit of it. Rhea Chakraborty adds the right amount of mystery to her character with a dignified performance. Dhritiman Chatterjee lives the role of the retired judge. Raghubir Yadav is effective as Hariya. Siddhanth Kapoor makes his presence felt as Joe. Sameer Soni is alright in a brief role as Oswal. Alexx O’Nell lends ordinary support as Richard.
Rumy Jafry makes an impressive comeback as a director. He has made a taut film which does not let the audience’s minds wander. For a writer who has made a huge name for himself with his comedies, making a comeback in the directorial arena with a thriller is in itself creditable. Music is in synch with the mood of the film. Of course, a song with a super-hit tune would have definitely helped. The title track (composed by Vishal-Shekhar; penned by Rumy Jafry) is intense. ‘Rang dariya’ (music by Gourov Dasgupta; lyrics by Farhan Memon) is quite appealing. The picturisation of the title song (by Kookie Gulati) is lovely. Picturisation of ‘Rang dariya’ (choreography by Vijay Anil Ganguly) is good. Clinton Cerejo’s background music is impactful. Binod Pradhan plays with the camera to great advantage. The lighting inside the mansion and the snowfall outside have both been captured beautifully by him. Abbas Ali Moghul’s action and stunt scenes are quite nice. Priya Suhas’ production designing and Vijay Ghodkey’s art direction are lovely. Bodhaditya Banerjee’s editing is sharp.
On the whole, Chehre is a well-made and well-enacted film with a story which is very different. But it will find more viewers among the classes because of the very nature of the script. Patronage from masses will be limited. The cold title, lack of hit music and limited promotion will also tell on its box-office performance.
Released on 27-8-’21 all over (except Maharashtra state and some other circuits, where cinemas have not reopened) thru PEN-Marudhar Cine Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.