What a waste!. Review on Chingari - Bollywood

A Kalpana Lajmee film is always eagerly looked forward to. Be it Daman or Rudaali or Darmiyan the films have had their share of merit and in most cases, hard hitting impact as well.Unfortunately, her latest venture Chingari is not a patch on her’ earlier ventures. Why, it isn’t half as impactful as Daman ,Rudali or Darmiyan.Sorry, not only is the movie ill-treated, even the substance it has to offer is as tasteless as a well garnished biryani minus spices and salt.

The movie is set in a village called Rangpur in rural India. In the aptly named Laalbatti area in the village, lives and works prostitute Basanti (Sushmita Sen), along with many girls and women of the same profession.

An outspoken woman, Basanti caters to her customers without letting anyone trample upon her dignity. She finds love in Chandan (Anuj Sawhney), the village postman. But this love does not go down well with the village priest Bhuvan Panda (Mithun Chakraborty).

Panda is a powerful but phoney priest feared by many and revered by few. Beneath his saintly saffron garb lies a sinner who exploits others for money, sex and influence.

Spurned by Basanti, Panda tries to crush her pride by getting rid of Chandan.

Basanti refuses to bow and vows revenge. This is when the prostitute turns into a chingari, a spark that will burn the fake godman’s house down.

Yes, Chingari is an apt case of good idea gone haywire. The film is one of the promising products to hit the Indian screens in the recent times, but how about giving us an equally inspiring content?The initial reels of Chingari keep you on the edge. A good portion of the first thirty minutes is devoted to background, setup and getting the characters in place. Besides the skillfully executed sequences, even the story unfolds at a feverish pace, involving the viewer completely in the proceedings. But one of the biggest drawbacks of film is that too many characters have been forced into the screenplay and in order to do justice to each character, the script starts going haywire after a point.As writer ,Kalpana ought to know that a simple story and a straightforward screenplay is what the viewer yearns for. By incorporating so many characters and the sub-plots, the film becomes one taxing exercise for the viewer.

Although the basic idea is intriguing, the way director unfolds the saga is far from convincing. In fact, the film tends to test the patience of the viewer as it inches ahead.Besides a far-from-convincing narrative, the ending of the film – which should've been the high point – is an absolute letdown, leaving no impact whatsoever. In fact, it's thanda to put it in filmi parlance!

Director Kalpana is just not in form this time around. The film pales when compared to her earlier products. In fact, it won’t be wrong to state that this is amongst her weakest films. Even her writing is below par.Also, none of the performances really manage to stand out. Sushmita tries hard to lend credence to her role, but doesn't really impress. Mithun looks dispassionate and goes through his part mechanically. Anuj Swaheny is strictly okay.

Chingari neither caters to the intelligentsia, nor the hoi polloi.Avoid!