Chandni Chowk to China

About the film

Chandni Chowk to China (shortened to CC2C) is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language martial arts action comedy film directed by Nikkhil Advani. The film stars Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone, with Mithun Chakraborty and Hong Kong actor Gordon Liu among the co-stars. In addition to being shot in China, parts of the film were shot in Bangkok, Thailand, although some of the China scenes were shot in sets at the Shanghai Film Studio. The film revolves around a vegetable cutter from Chandni Chowk in Delhi who finds himself on an adventure in China after the residents of an oppressed village deem him to be the reincarnation of a slain Chinese revolutionary.

It is Warner Bros. Pictures' first Hindi film. The film was released on 16 January 2009. Indiagames had also released a mobile video game based on the film.

Plot

The film begins with the story of the Great Wall of China and the brave warrior Liu Sheng. It then shows the evil smuggler Hojo's tyranny in the village of Zhange in the present.

Sidhesh Sharma, aka Sidhu, is a simple vegetable cutter at a roadside food stall in the Chandni Chowk section of Delhi. He consults astrologers, tarot card readers, and fake fakirs to turn around his destiny despite his foster father, Dada, pushing him to believe in himself instead. When two Zhange villagers from China claim him as a reincarnation of 'Liu Sheng,' Sidhu, encouraged by trickster Chopstick, believes he will be feted as a hero and travels to China with them, unaware of his recruitment to assassinate Hojo and free the village.

On the way to China, Sidhu meets Sakhi, an Indian-Chinese spokesmodel. Her twin sister Suzy, known as the femme fatale Meow Meow, works for Hojo, not knowing the truth: that Hojo tried to kill her father, Inspector Chiang, and stole her from him as a baby. Chiang is now an amnesiac vagrant living around the Great Wall tourist area. Sidhu realizes the truth about why he was brought to the village. Scared, he apologizes to Hojo, exposing himself as a loser to the village. Dada arrives and starts beating Hojo's men, yelling at Sidhu to stand and fight. Hojo kills Dada and dumps Sidhu over the Great Wall. Injured and disgraced, Sidhu is saved by the amnesiac Chiang from falling to his death and spends three months healing. Upon waking up, he is devastated at losing Dada and vows revenge. Meanwhile, Chopstick, similarly devastated at being responsible for what happened to Sidhu, has infiltrated Hojo's gang to help reunite Sakhi with Suzy.

Production

The film was earlier titled Mera Naam Chin Chin Choo and also Made in China.

Release

Chandni Chowk to China earned ₹330 million (US$3.5 million) in its opening weekend. It went on to earn a total of ₹407 million (US$4.3 million) in India. The film's total North American box office in the four weeks of running was $921,738, and total worldwide gross was $13,439,480.

The film received negative reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 42% of 59 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "A thin plot is disguised by high octane dancing and action in this Bollywood crossover comedy." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 44 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Claudia Puig of USA Today said, "This Indian/Chinese cinematic hybrid is likable and entertaining but overlong and occasionally hokey", and that Kumar's "physical humor brings to mind Jim Carrey". John Anderson of Variety wrote, "If Chandni Chowk to China were a person, it would need Valium", and found that "everything is fast and furious, hilarious, hysterical and frantic. Some of the sequences as are quite beautiful and, in the case of the dance numbers featuring Padukone, stunning. But it's the fight scenes as that truly take off". Frank Lovece of Newsday wrote, "Less a Bollywood bonbon than a pan-Asian fusion dish, this combination of Indian musical and Chinese chopsocky is, nonetheless, delicious fun".

Steven Rae of The Philadelphia Inquirer stated that, "Chandni Chowk is entertainingly goofy for about 30 minutes. And then, for the next two hours-plus, it's agony." Scott Tobias of The Onion described the film as "crass, schizophrenic, culturally insensitive, horribly paced, and shameless in its pandering to the lowest common denominator", while Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly said, "This galumphing elephant of a chopsocky revenge-of-the-nerd quasi-musical lacks the lyrical choreographic beauty that has marked such Stateside Bollywood releases as the gorgeous Lagaan". Michael Philips of the Chicago Tribune called the film "a massive and rather tiring showcase for Bollywood action hero Akshay Kumar". Indian critic Taran Adarsh gave the movie 1.5/5 stars, calling it "a big, big, big letdown". Rajeev Masand of IBN termed it a tiring watch, while praising Kumar's performance.

Controversy

In Nepal, there were protests against the film due to a passing claim that Buddha was born in India; Lumbini, which is the birthplace of Buddha, is located in Nepal.

Several shows were cancelled in Nepal due to the protests. Protestors threatened to burn cinemas that screened the film, and racial slurs like "Dhoti" were hurled against Indians online.

Key details