Chobbar Movie: The recently released Punjabi movie successfully manages to build a distance from dull moments.
In my movie review for Garinder Sidhu's 'Criminal' seven weeks ago, I had written how the movie provides you with a sense of belonging due to its dissimilar offering. The same conclusion can be drawn for 'Chobbar' in spite of it being an action-drama as compared to a crime-drama named Criminal.
For starters, these are the movies which will pave the way for more established Punjabi artists to try something different. Watching these movies really furnish you with pride as an avid follower of Punjabi cinema. These are the movies which give an assurance that the speed of progression isn't entirely absent. It's just that it's on the slower side.
If truth be told, Chobbar didn't only take me back in time by a few weeks but by quite a few years. Not comparing the two movies (would be unfair to do so) but I clearly remember watching Sanjay Gadhvi's 'Dhoom' (2004) in a cinema hall. The roaring sounds of motorcycles vrooming around on the celluloid was the first such experience not only for a 10-year old but also (seemingly) for many other people who were way elder to me at the time. Don't remember exactly but it must be around those years only that I heard similar sounds in real while watching a Maut Ka Kuaan event.
However, hearing the same vrooming sounds for the first time in a Punjabi movie was a tad bit more special even for a 28-year old. Want to know about a common trait between my memories of watching Chobbar, Dhoom and Maut Ka Kuaan? It is the sight of people cheering, hooting and rejoicing at watching adrenaline junkies do their thing.
Chobbar: What really works?
Chobbar, which comprises of much more than lead actor Jayy Randhawa bringing his MTV Stuntmania days back to life, comes across as a sincere team effort ranging to all sides of filmmaking. Not that other movies aren't made with sincerity but its presence in the truest sense is visible on the silver screens. Luckily, Chobbar manages to do that to pass the first roadblock revolving around the effort.
Talking of execution, cinematographer-turned-director Maneesh Bhatt's first theatrical release as a director does enough justice with respect to not making bike stunt scenes look lower in rank. Chobbar, in totality, gets a rich treatment throughout its 116-minute runtime. Thus, adding to the entertainment quotient of the action movie.
Coming back to Randhawa, his character Saabi plays various roles of a pizza delivery man, a stuntsman and a robber in the movie. To his credit, Randhawa does all of this with aplomb, immense depth and variety managing to leave an ineffaceable impression. Spotted and assisted by Chaabi (Honey Mattu) in many of his wrongdoings in the movie, Randhawa enjoys the backing of an actor who seldom fails to disappoint especially when handed with a solid character.
That being said, debutant actor Drishty Talwar as Pari comes to the fore as the biggest surprise in Chobbar. With a lone dialogue across a couple of trailers released by the makers, Talwar calls the shots in both deceiving and dominating manners throughout the movie. Fortunate to not be merely playing the male lead's love interest in her maiden Punjabi movie, it is safe to say that Talwar has made this opportunity count.
While background music generally plays a role in upping the ante of an action movie, Chobbar's title track takes home all the credits in this aspect. Musically composed by Showkidd, written by Jaggi Jagowal and sung Jordan Sandhu, the song really serves its purpose.
Been regularly producing movies now, KV Dhillon appears to be making a universe-of-sorts of his own at Geet MP3. Having launched Ronak Joshi in 'Lover' and Talwar in Chobbar within four months or so, cast of Dhillon's next movie as a producer would be really interesting to see.
