Reviewed by:Dare Devil Kid (DDK) Rating: 3.4/5 stars

Say what you want about Rohit Shetty, but the man sure does know to mindlessly entertain you, unlike many of his clones spawned over the past few years, who just numb your senses with their weak endeavors in trying to ape his brand of easygoing, risk-free cinema. "Chennai Express" is actually his best work since "All The Best" (though nothing compared to "All The Best"),and does have a semblance of plot and even some heart, which is usually not the case with most of his projects. The film exceeds expectations for the mere fact that it entertains you for most its duration.

Let's not even try and get into the other technical and creative aspects (or flaws) of the film, because if any of you'll went into a Rohit Shetty movie looking for a coherent plot narration or solid character development, then you'll need a serious reality check, or rather a surgical extraction of your prudish natures. The songs (barring the "1 2 3 4" number),editing, and production design are admittedly all over the place, but then again you should be well prepared to ignore these parameters. However, the background score and cinematography are surprisingly quite decent.

For his part, SRK necessarily hams it up delightfully to the hilt and renders a slightly tweaked and caricatured version of his now famous "Rahul" persona. And Deepika's acting is finally showing signs of real improvement. She literally shines in some scenes of the movie. What adds some required chutzpah to this potboiler, is the sizzling chemistry between the two. Their second film together gives sufficient indication that we might have the next hot jodi in Bollywood.

"Chennai Express" is melodramatic and over-the-top, but it certainly isn't tedious and long-drawn like most other wannabe masala films. You'll gladly lap it up over the disoriented "Bodyguards", "Ek Tha Tigers", "Singhams", "Himmatwalas", "Son Of Sardars" and "Rowdy Rathores" anyday. Most of the dialogues and gags are actually humorous and the action at the end at least makes the hero feel human (something that can't be said for the other staple masala heroes like Salman and Ajay). At the end of the day, if you don't analyze "Chennai Express" too much, you'll actually end up having quite an entertaining 140-minute ride.

In many ways, "Chennai Express" is a typical Indian film. It features the usual mismatched lovers and song and dance numbers but it is very different because the film features four different languages (Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and English) and is a very multicultural affair--as India is almost like a country comprised of many little countries and each with its own language. And, you see a lot of India in this movie.

When the film begins, Rahul (Indian mega-star, Shah Rukh Khan) is supposed to be headed from Mumbai south to deposit his grandfather's ashes in a river. However, Rahul is tired of being responsible and plans instead to head to the city of Goa and have a good time with his friends. After all, Grandfather won't know which river he's deposited into and all water eventually flows together! However, his selfish plans are thrown off course when he returns to the train to retrieve this ashes he's just forgotten...and ends up in the middle of a kidnapping!

Meena (Deepika Padukone) refuses to marry the man her father picked for her and has run away from home. While this is a tough enough situation, he keeps running away and her father's goons keep catching her and returning her...and now they've captured her and Rahul. It turns out her father is a big mob boss in the Southern Tamil region (near Chennai). How will Rahul extricate himself from this predicament? Well, Menna tells him to trust her and do what she says when they return to her village. And, since Rahul only speaks Hindi and everyone around him is speaking Tamil, he just does what Menna tells him....and then he learns that she's told her father that she intends to marry Rahul...a man who just met her!

So do Rahul and Meena now marry and live happily ever after? Not on your life! In addition to Rahul not loving Meena, Meena's fiancé is bent on killing the upstart who has stolen his woman!! Not surprisingly, Rahul and Meena soon sneak away and go on a cross- country and cross-cultural road trip.

The film is a mixed bag. I liked the plot, the dialog and the acting by Khan and Padukone and found the film to be quite enjoyable. However, the stunts were, at times, completely stupid! So stupid, the film loses a point or two. In one scene, Rahul swings a knife-like thingie at a car as it speeds towards him--and it then flips and blows up!! In another portion of this escape sequence, Rahul's car (along with two other vehicles) smashes through a brick wall and sustains NO DAMAGE!!! There are other stupid stunts and they have the effect of cheapening a very good film. It's a shame, as without these scenes I'd strongly recommend this one. As it is, my recommendation is tempered by a warning about these dumb stunts.

Chennai Express stars Shah Rukh Khan as unmarried confectioner Rahul, who is reluctantly given the task of fulfilling his late grandfather's last wish: to scatter his ashes at Rameshwaram. Boarding the Chennai Express, Rahul meets Meenamma (Deepika Padukone),the beautiful daughter of a crime boss, who is running away from home to avoid an arranged marriage. Unfortunately, Meenamma has been followed by several of her father's goons, who have been ordered to bring the girl back. What follows is a crazy caper that sees Meenamma pretending to be in love with Rahul to avoid her wedding, only for the couple to fall in love for real.

Fast approaching my 3000th IMDb review, I thought it was about time I tackled Bollywood, one of the largest and most popular film industries in the world, starting with Chennai Express. Despite not understanding 90% of the humour, which revolved heavily around popular Indian cultural references and differences in language, I found myself enjoying this vibrant, good-natured and lively romantic comedy more than I had expected. Lightweight fluff it may be, but it is fun, with colourful cinematography, likable characters, a few catchy musical numbers ('1, 2, 3, 4 Get On The Dance Floor'),some surprisingly good action (including a well choreographed fight scene, and a car and motorbike chase with some very dangerous looking stunts),and a random boss-eyed dwarf who makes funny noises.

If I have one complaint, it is that the film was far too long for my liking—two hours and twenty one minutes of romantic comedy is too much for me, wherever in the world it comes from.