MUMBAI: After ages, Hindi Cinema has delivered a film where the two main characters engage in a face-off, overflowing with wit, smarts, oneupmanship yet underlined by charm, heart, and relatability. It's even more special that this time, you have opposing genders going at each other's throats in the form or Divya Khossla and Neil Nitin Mukesh. Prior to Ek Chatur Naar, whenever Bollywood has pulled such subjects off with aplomb it has usually been with men pitted against each other a la Darr, Taxi No. 9211, Andaz Apna Apna, or Do Aur Do Paanch.
What makes Ek Chatur Naar so identifiable are a.) The crackling chemistry shared by Divya Khossla and Neil Nitin Mukesh — the former putting her best foot forward yet, nailing both her accent and expressions as hitherto unseen, while the latter reminding one and all why he has burst onto the Bollywood scene with a subtle mean streak — and b.) Director Umesh Shukla's deft handling of a tricky plot. He's back in his 'OMG' and '102 Not Out' form, ironing over the cracks that appeared in the recent Aankh Micholi. Moreover, we get to see that he's efficacious outside the family-comedy or societal-messaging mold.
Coupled with a no-frills, no-songs albeit strong background-score treatment, and you've got a black comedy thriller on your hands that does the job for the most part, its handful of logical loopholes notwithstanding, which you'll gladly overlook for the sake of the gleeful ride you're on. Midway, one or two said loopholes try to stick out like a sore thumb, but again, Shukla's shrewdness at diverting out attention to more pressing plot points, plus the performances, including those of the supporting cast like Sushant Singh, Chhaya Kadam, and Zakir Hussain, keep us fixated where we ought to be.
Two unexpected climatic twists, which genuinely leave you stunned, are the icing on the cake. All in all, Ek Chatur Naar is a trip that definitely merits a theatrical ticket.
3.5/5 stars
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