Chehre review: Amitabh Bachchan-Emraan Hashmi starrer film will get you hooked from first to finish

4/5

Story:

Sameer Mehra, played by Emraan Hashmi, gets stuck in the middle of nowhere. He meets a group of four people - two lawyers, a judge and a hangman - who are hell-bent on 'delivering justice'. Does Sameer have anything to confess? Will his truth come out? Chehre unveils his real face.

Review:

Chehre is one of the rare gems which tend to shake your soul. It is a powerful story, brought forth with powerful performances and beautiful cinematography that enhances the art of storytelling. The movie remains consistent in its performance and storytelling which is a feat that few can achieve.

The film begins with intriguing music and Amitabh Bachchan's powerful voice. The scene - an eight-minute monologue - is dream/nightmare-like. The lighting and cinematography are captivating, making Big B look like a ghost and then a human within split seconds. His 'shayari' on 'Chehre' gives you a hint on something significant that's going to happen. Senior Bachchan also gives a flawless performance in the scene, especially in the last few seconds.

Emraan Hashmi's entry scene cannot be recalled as great as Big B but knowing him from his Raaz 2 days, you can be assured that he is going to perform something crucial soon enough and the actor doesn't disappoint. He drives on a snow-clad road leading to Delhi, which is when Annu Kapoor makes a scary entry, only to become the most friendly person around. His character Anand Mahant uses Punjabi verses and the accent gives his character more depth.

Rhea Chakraborty as Anna is hardly believable. She, however, shows a little mysterious side to herself which isn't as powerful as it could have been. In the role of Anna, she hides a past (which you can see coming). The scene where she almost kills Sameer could have been the highlight in the movie but even then, she doesn't perform up to the mark.

Latif Zaidi, played by Amitabh Bachchan, makes an entry again. This time though, it is more commercial. The camera slowly focuses on him as he walks holding an umbrella. He is seen wearing a coat, which has become a given in the film, considering the cold weather it's set in. However, the cliche could have been avoided if just for the sake of it. Big B's look - tying a pony on his beard - however, gives an interesting twist to his character. It screams fun with the times but deadly serious at the same time.

Rumy Jaffery's Chehre keeps giving you death scares with or without intending to. There are so many mysterious things going on in the film that it keeps you intrigued and engaged. Amitabh Bachchan finds out about Emraan Hashmi without even meeting him. Rhea Chakraborty overacts on seeing butterflies, which makes you think hard.

Big B's energy changes after meeting Emraan. He gets more enthu while Emraan keeps calm, thus balancing the scene out well. Soon enough, they get into a hard discussion. Before you know it, the film forces you to look eye-to-eye with uncomfortable confrontations, no matter how much you try to hide it behind a smiling face.

The four characters - Latif, Anant, Rattan Shah (Dhritiman Chatterjee) and Vikram Mehra (Raghubir Yadav) use past tense to talk about themselves. Since they are retired, there isn't much suspicion on them but the idea of them being ghosts cannot be bounced off just yet. Got a scare? That is exactly what we're talking about. The horror elements in the film leave you thinking hard and eventually, make you uncomfortable.

The viewers are introduced to the concept of a 'mock trial'. As soon as the concept is introduced, the scare sets right in. The judge says that his word is final, almost threatening that he has the highest power and is capable of getting away with killing people too.

The Phoolan Devi case is bounced off, then leading to the Sameer Mehra-GS Oswal (Samir Soni) case. The latter case develops on the basis of speculation.

The mock trial begins on a slow note. Emraan is on a roll while talking about Mr. Oswal. Amitabh Bachchan follows soon after. The viewers then get a taste of what the 'warnings' for the mock trial actually meant.

Samir is seen in a brief role which makes very little impact. It would, however, be unfair to judge him based on a five-minute role. The same goes for 'Joe' Siddhant Kapoor, who makes no first impression.

A flute-playing Raghubir, on the other hand, leaves quite a mark. Krystle D'Souza as Natasha Oswal makes a noteworthy first impression. Alexx O'Nell is also seen in a cameo. His role, surprisingly, turns important for a part of the story.

If Emraan and Rhea's chemistry is intriguing, his time with Krystle is toxic. Every time they are together, something bad happens. A song named Rang Dariya pops out of the blue to showcase Sameer-Natasha's 'relationship' which wavers you from the topic. However, it can be ignored considering the film and performances are impressive in themselves.

Background score plays an important role in Chehre, which is clear from all the noise in the house and thunders in the beginning of the second half. A few minutes into it, Emraan sinks his teeth into the character and gives a flawless performance. It just gets better as time passes by. Towards the end of the film, Emraan's performance gets a notch higher than Amitabh Bachchan's and leaves an indelible mark in your heart.

There is nothing new in Amitabh Bachchan's character, especially since he has already played the role of a lawyer in Pink and an imposter of a lawyer in Badla. His dialogues, though, are equally powerful in Chehre. The actor refers to the Nirbhaya case and says that she hasn't received justice even after 7-8 years. His monologue could start a discussion and raise awareness among people of all ages, yet again.

As the suspense slowly unveils, you can't help but stay at the edge of your seat for 20 minutes straight.

Even though the film goes off the topic in the last few minutes, it was an important point that needed to be made. Chehre does get a little dramatic towards the end but what is a good movie without an OTT impact?

Amitabh and Emraan fight it out but it isn't something out of the ordinary. What happens after that, though, certainly is. All that can be said is that the megastar being himself is impressive till the last scene of the film. The same goes for Emraan Hashmi.

Verdict:

Chehre is definitely worthy of a watch. It not only has powerful performances but also conveys several important messages for the society we live in today. Go watch the Rumi Jaffery directorial to experience great performances, brilliant screenplay and cinematography that pleases your eye.