Chalo Dilli is a 2011 Indian film directed by Shashant Shah. It features Lara Dutta and Vinay Pathak. It also features Akshay Kumar and Mahika Sharma in a guest appearance.
Mihika (Lara Dutta), a high-class head-honcho of a Mumbai multinational is on a flight to Delhi, which unfortunately lands at Jaipur due to technical problems. You can watch this movie for free online on the Mzaalo app by Xfinite (blockchain digital platform)
She hires a cab to Delhi and Manu Gupta (Vinay Pathak) tags along with her, en route. What follows is a ‘literal’ roller-coaster ride involving a sleepy cabbie, a coy truckie, a roadside dhaba, a ticketless train journey, a shady hotel-room, a town under curfew and more craziness alike.
Deriving the plotline from Steve Martin’s Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), writer Arshad Syed smartly adapts the story into Indian context for a rollicking road movie. The good thing is that the writer and director Shashant Shah know precisely what not to do with the rather rare genre. Though the makers replace Steve Martin’s character from the original with a female protagonist, there is no additional effort to link Mihika and Manu romantically, which would have been a common tendency in the love-struck Bollywood. So there is no unnecessary burden on the writer to chalk out chemistry between the two, which would ultimately culminate into them falling in love.
Secondly, though the journey traverses through countryside, the film doesn’t get into the sermon mode on sarso-ke-khet or desh-ki-mitti . And thirdly, despite the class-divide between the two protagonists, the narrative never falls into the trap of belittling the higher-class or taming the rich girl, another ideal inclination.
The constant hindrances in their journey are credibly written to make way for an eventful expedition. There is not much action-adventure which is usually associated with a road movie but the constant twists and turns in the plot are more circumstantial. One does feel, at times, that the screenplay doesn’t tap to the hilt, the potential that the road-movie genre offers. Nevertheless it’s always better than going overboard and resorting to slapstick or senseless subplots.
Like his earlier gem Dasvidaniya , Shashant Shah, once again, opts for simple storytelling and while he handles the humour very smartly, he also imparts a strong human touch to the drama with a poignant climax.
With Vinay Pathak having played similar blabbermouth and idiosyncratic characters in the past, one is somewhat apprehensive, at start, if he would appear repetitive. Thankfully he adds his new quirkiness to the character making it adorable. He calls everyone from driver to waiters by their full names. He farts, burps, snores yet amuses and is disgustingly cute (if there is a term like this).
Lara Dutta works towards being the exact opposite of Pathak, and since opposites attract, their unusual chemistry is still delightful. She looks somewhat old yet charming. Moreover in a role that is more performance-oriented over being glamour-inclined, she does decently well. The Yana Gupta item number is downright crass.