‘Motichoor Chaknachoor’ Movie Review: Nawazuddin Siddiqui & Athiya Shetty’s fresh pairing brings ample laughs in this emotional romcom

Directed By
Debamitra Biswal

Produced By
Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, Rajesh Bhatia, Kiran Bhatia

Cast
Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Athiya Shetty, Vibha Chibber, Navni Parihar, Vivek Mishra, Karuna Pandey, Sanjeev Vats, Abhishek Rawat, Sapna Sand, Usha Nagar, Sunny Leone

Bollywood Bubble Rating
3/5

What’s It About
‘Motichoor Chaknachoor’ is about two individuals – Athiya Shetty, who wants to only get married to someone who lives abroad, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who has just lost his job in Dubai and is back in India after four years and desperately wants to get married. When these two neighbours meet and each figures out that the other can fulfil their wishes, they decide to get hitched. Will their families accept them? Will they be able to stand each other when they find out the real reason as to why the other person wanted to get hitched? Well for all that you will have to watch this sweet romcom.

What’s Hot
Well, Nawazuddin Siddiqui is in top form. You might be thinking him to be the king of gangster dramas, but this man is a gold mine of talent. The way he understands comedy and is able to execute it is terrific. His comic timing in this film is unparalleled. The nuances he brings into a small town guy’s character is simply impeccable. At the same time, when it comes to showing off his emotional side, he sure knows how to get your eyes moist. He was the star of the film.

I had never thought in my life that I would ever say this. But yes, Athiya Shetty puts out a fantastic performance. She seems to have worked really hard on getting the local dialect to perfection. Not only that, she doesn’t look any bit the Mumbai-born hottie from her real life. She manages to make you believe her character in a way hardly any newcomer has done in the recent past. She is lovely in the comic and dramatic scenes and therefore, I would let her not-so-good emotional scenes pass off without a glitch. Still, her performance was unexpectedly good, and thus demands every bit of praise.

The supporting cast was also chosen aptly for the roles. Each one, from Athiya’s mom to her masi to Nawazuddin’s mom to his brother, everyone was perfectly suited for the characters.

The storyline of the movie may have been very simple, but that’s the beauty of it. You’ll be instantly able to relate to it. You will be able to live through these characters.

Have to give credit to the casting of the lead characters in the film. Athiya Shetty and Nawazuddin Siddiqui are a totally uncommon casting, and their chemistry is like a breath of fresh air.

Talking of the direction by Debamitra Biswal, a simple topic was handled very beautifully and skillfully. Being her first big film, she has come up with a keeper. The way she has handled the comedy element was brilliant in the first half, and also the emotional aspect shown in the second half was also commendable. I wish, she had been a part of the entire film’s editing process as well (she had been thrown out of the project after the film’s shoot was done and, as reported, the editing was handled by the producers of the film).

What’s Not
Considering the numerous reports of Debamitra Biswal having fights with the producers of the film, which later led to her being thrown off the project, seems to have affected the end product. There are numerous scenes in the second half which weren’t needed and unnecessarily prolonged. The edit could have been much crisper in the second half, which could have reduced the length of the movie by at least 10-15 minutes.

While the movie has really good plot points, there is one specific point in the film where Nawazuddin Siddiqui slaps his wife Athiya Shetty. (SPOILERS AHEAD) The problem with this plot are the scenes which follow next. The makers have tried to justify the husband slapping his wife as a casual thing, which it utterly is not. From the rest of the family trying to convince Athiya Shetty to not be angry on Nawazuddin Siddiqui to the old dadi saying that ‘You’ll be left alone waiting if you don’t end up coming back home and making amends with your husband, this scene is just too much of patriarchy. So much so, there is a song which keeps playing throughout which has lyrics to the tune of ‘aisi choti choti baatein to ghar parivaar mein hoti rehti hai’. All this while, the privileged husband has not even said a single ‘sorry’ to his wife. It’s only during the climax when he apologises that too not in person but via a letter.

Moving on, the songs were not needed in any way. Some of them just broke the flow of the story, which simply didn’t go down well with me.

Verdict
‘Motichoor Chaknachoor’ surely is a ONE-TIME WATCH. Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s quirks with comedy is the prime take away from this movie. Also, director Debamitra Biswal has a long way to go if she continues to keep coming with such good yet simple stories. I am going with 3 stars.

Box-Office
The film has had terrible promotions. It will be hard to stay alive for even the three days of the weekend. However, a little bit of good word-of-mouth could help the movie get its due at the theatres otherwise, it will have to earn its worth over Netflix.

Watch Trailer

Also Read: ‘Bala’ Movie Review: This Ayushmann Khurrana starrer will leave you with laughter fits

Prateek Sur

Born a Movie Buff, working as a Film Critique and enjoying life as a Bollywood Reporter.

Email: editor@bollywoodbubble.com Phone: +91 8355910465