Chehre (transl. Faces) is a 2021 Hindi mystery thriller film directed and co-written by Rumi Jaffery and produced by Anand Pandit with Saraswati Entertainment Private Limited. Starring Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi in lead roles,[5] the film features Krystle D'Souza, Rhea Chakraborty, Siddhanth Kapoor, Annu Kapoor, Alexx O'Nell, Samir Soni, Dhritiman Chatterjee and Raghubir Yadav in supporting roles[6] and is an uncredited adaptation of the 1956 German novel A Dangerous Game by Friedrich Dürrenmatt,[7] which had earlier been adapted in Marathi as Shantata! Court Chaalu Aahe (1971),[8] in Kannada as Male Nilluvavarege (2015) and in Bengali as Anusandhan (2021).[9]
| Chehre | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Rumi Jaffery |
| Written by | Ranjit Kapoor Rumi Jaffery |
| Story by | Ranjit Kapoor |
| Based on | A Dangerous Game by Friedrich Dürrenmatt |
| Produced by | Anand Pandit |
| Starring | Amitabh Bachchan Emraan Hashmi Krystle D'Souza Siddhanth Kapoor Annu Kapoor Alexx O'Nell Samir Soni Raghubir Yadav Dhritiman Chatterjee Rhea Chakraborty |
| Cinematography | Binod Pradhan |
| Edited by | Bodhaditya Banerjee |
| Music by | Score: Clinton Cerejo Songs: Vishal–Shekhar Gourov Dasgupta |
Production companies | Anand Pandit Motion Pictures Saraswati Entertainment Private Limited |
| Distributed by | Pen Marudhar Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 139 minutes[2] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Budget | ₹25 crore[3] |
| Box office | ₹8.26 crore[4][3] |
The film was announced on 11 April 2019 and filming began on 10 May 2019. It was scheduled for worldwide release on 17 July 2020,[10] but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] The film was ultimately released in theatres on 27 August 2021. Upon release, the film was a box office disaster, grossing only ₹8 crore against its ₹25 crore budget.[1]
Plot
editSameer Mehra (Emraan Hashmi), a business tycoon takes shelter at an old man's home in the mountains amidst a dangerous snow storm. He is introduced to Jagdish Acharya (Dhritiman Chatterjee), a retired judge, Paramjeet Singh Bhullar (Annu Kapoor), a renowned defence counsel, Anna Matthews (Rhea Chakraborty), a house help and one Hariya Jadhav (Raghubir Yadav). They are later joined by Lateef Zaidi (Amitabh Bachchan), a renowned public prosecutor who has a sharp wit and an eye for detail.
Lateef initiates a conversation with Sameer to check if he is the right subject for a practical game they play amongst themselves. Sameer introduces himself as a successful and ambitious executive of an ad agency who achieved everything on his own since he was orphaned from the age of 15. When Sameer takes a break, Lateef remarks to his friends that he is absolutely sure that Sameer is the right subject for their game, and as everyone values his opinion, they agree to this.
Everyone coerces Sameer to play the game, and he agrees. Later, Joe Matthews (Siddhanth Kapoor), an ex-convict accused of murder, joins them. Jagdish tells Sameer that he had pronounced judgement in Joe's case as he was caught killing the person who sexually assaulted his sister, and now that he has served his sentence, they are all on good terms with him.
The game is basically a mock trial wherein they set up a court and argue about some famous cases. Sameer agrees to be their defendant as Anna has not prepared for a famous case Lateef had earlier asked her for. Jagdish tells Sameer his rights and tells him that he can meet his defence counsel, Bhullar, to discuss his case before the court starts. When they both meet in private, Sameer tells Bhullar that he has committed no crime so his case won't stand in court, but Bhullar opposes this, saying that going without any criminal charge in the mock court is dangerous since the prosecutor would then have complete freedom to charge him with anything. Sameer rejects this idea and says that he would go without any charge.
As the court starts, Lateef is able to extract intimate details of Sameer's professional life, to which Sameer naively answers all questions honestly in the beginning, but Lateef is able to correctly point that he had an affair with his boss's wife. On further inquisition, he concludes that Sameer colluded with his boss' wife to kill him and later advance to the position of the CEO. At this point, the mock trial becomes real and the judge notifies that charges are to be framed and the trial started. He then gives time to the defence to prepare for the trial.
During this break, Sameer learns that Hariya is a retired hangman and Joe is, in fact, Anna's brother. Scared, he tries to escape from the house, but Joe prevents that from happening. Sameer now realises he is completely trapped. As the trial starts, Lateef presents a video from Sameer's phone as evidence of his illicit relationship with Natasha (Krystle D'Souza), his late boss G.S. Oswal (Samir Soni)'s wife and their conspiracy to kill him. Bhullar and Lateef passionately argue in the court & finally a guilty verdict is pronounced & given capital punishment. Now everyone insist Sameer to go upstairs with Hariya, presumably to be hanged to his death. Sameer mocks them saying that they are real criminals who hang people for their petty game. Lateef replies that entire trial has been recorded by CCTV, and that either way, he would be punished in this court or a real court. Fearing dear life, Sameer pulls out a gun & threatens everyone at gunpoint, takes the DVR of the CCTV and runs out of the house with everyone else in pursuit. Sameer manages to destroy the DVR, but in a hasty move, accidentally falls off the cliff to his death, thus serving poetic justice to his crime.
A few days later, Natasha visits their place, telling them that she is here to collect Sameer's phone which is her company's property. The film ends with everyone convincing Natasha to play their game.
Cast
edit- Amitabh Bachchan as Adv. Lateef Zaidi, a renowned public prosecutor
- Emraan Hashmi as Sameer Mehra, a business tycoon
- Annu Kapoor as Adv. Paramjeet Singh Bhullar, a retired defence counsel
- Dhritiman Chatterjee as Justice (Retd.) Jagdish Acharya
- Raghubir Yadav as Hariya Jadhav, a retired hangman
- Krystle D'Souza as Natasha Oswal, Sameer's love interest and later partner
- Samir Soni as G. S. Oswal, Natasha's husband
- Rhea Chakraborty as Anna Mathews[12]
- Siddhanth Kapoor as Joe Costa, an ex-convict accused of murder who is actually Anna's brother
- Alexx O'Nell as Richard Alexander
Production
editFilming began on 10 May 2019.[13] First schedule ended on 16 June with a fourteen minute long shot by Bachchan in one go.[14] Kriti Kharbanda was initially selected to star in the film but left due to a fallout with the makers.[5] She was replaced by Krystle D'Souza.[15]
Soundtrack
edit| Chehre | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Vishal–Shekhar and Gourov Dasgupta | |
| Released | 24 August 2021[16] |
| Recorded | 2020 |
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
| Length | 16:03 |
| Language | Hindi |
| Label | Zee Music Company |
| Official audio | |
| Chehre - Full Album on YouTube | |
The music of film was composed by Vishal–Shekhar and Gourov Dasgupta while lyrics written by Farhan Memon and Rumy Jafry.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Rang Dariya" | Farhan Memon | Gourov Dasgupta | Yasser Desai | 4:56 |
| 2. | "Chehre - Title Track" | Rumy Jafry | Vishal–Shekhar | Amitabh Bachchan | 3:07 |
| 3. | "Rang Dariya" (Reprise) | Farhan Memon | Gourov Dasgupta | Raj Barman | 4:57 |
| 4. | "Chehre - Title Track" (Reprise) | Rumy Jafry | Vishal–Shekhar | Shekhar Ravjiani | 3:03 |
| Total length: | 16:03 | ||||
Reception
editUpon release, Chehre received mixed to positive reviews from the film critics.[17] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5 calling Chehre "Engrossing" and wrote, "Captivating screenplay + wonderful performances by the principal cast makes chehre an interesting watch."[18] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film 1.5 stars out of 5 saying that "the film stodgy plot spoils the cast performance".[19]
Renuka Vyavahare of The Times of India gave 2.5(out of 5) stars and said: "Chehre aims to make a social commentary on the state of criminal justice in India. The idea at the outset is interesting, but it stops at just that".[20]
Archita Kashyap of Firstpost gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote,"Chehre aims to cock a snook at the present-day fast-paced chasing of ambitions, money, and success but becomes too preachy at times".[21]
References
edit- ^ a b "Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi starrer Chehre to release on August 27 in theatres". Bollywood Hungama. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
- ^ "Chehre (2021)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- ^ a b "Chehre Movie (2021)- Box Office India". Box Office India. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
- ^ "Chehre Box Office". Bollywood Hungama. 27 August 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ^ a b "Kriti Kharbanda dropped out of Amitabh Bachchan, Emraan Hashmi starrer Chehre?". Bollywood Hungama. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
- ^ "Chehre: TV actress Krystle D'Souza joins Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi film". India Today. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- ^ "Amitabh Bachchan's new film attempts to be a slow-burn thriller".
- ^ Ramnath, Nandini (27 August 2021). "'Chehre' movie review: One actor steals the show (it's not who you think)". Scroll.in.
- ^ Roy, Priyanka (27 August 2021). "Amitabh Bachchan's new film Chehre attempts to be a slow-burn thriller". Telegraph India. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
- ^ @taran_adarsh (21 January 2020). "New release date... #Chehre - starring #AmitabhBachchan and #EmraanHashmi - will now release on 17 July 2020 and the change in date is due to a request made by the makers of #GulaboSitabo to avert a clash... #Chehre was earlier releasing on 24 April 2020... Here's a new glimpse" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 January 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Chehre producer Anand Pandit explains why Rhea Chakraborty is absent from film's posters". Firstpost. 18 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
..was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- ^ "Rhea Chakraborty to return to silver screen with Chehre co-starring Amitabh Bachchan, Emraan Hashmi; director says 'she will bounce back'". Jagran English. 6 January 2021. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
- ^ "Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi starrer finally gets its title; find out here". The Asian Age. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
- ^ "Amitabh Bachchan Films 14-Minute Scene In Single Take; 'Thunderous Applause' Follows". NDTV. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
- ^ "Not Krystle D'souza to replace Kriti Kharbanda in 'Chehre'; read details". The Times of India. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ^ "Chehre – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". Jiosaavn. 18 August 2021.
- ^ "Chehre Movie Review - Critics". Adda Today. 28 August 2021. Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
- ^ Adarsh, Taran. "Tweet". Twitter. Archived from the original on 26 August 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
- ^ "Chehre review: An undercooked, stodgy plot spoils the Emraan Hashmi, Amitabh Bachchan starrer". The Indian Express. 28 August 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
- ^ "Movie Review: A Courtroom Drama that feels longer than any longest-running lawsuit". The Times of India. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
- ^ Kashyap, Archita (27 August 2021). "Chehre movie review: Heavy on conversations, light on story". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
External links
edit- Chehre at IMDb
- Chehre at Bollywood Hungama