Chance Pe Dance - Movie Review

Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Genelia D’Souza, Mohnish Behl, Parikshit Sahni
Director: Ken Ghosh
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Rating: **
 
Coincidences make awesome stories. In this case coincidences are far more interesting than the movie itself. Last year in this same week we had ‘Chandni Chowk to China’ and this year we have this film which has the same first four letters at the start of the title – in Chandni and Chance. There is more. Last year we had another movie on a struggling actor in January itself – ‘Luck By Chance’. That, however, had a little bit of luck on its side as it got some decent reviews. ‘Chance Pe Dance’ is more likely to go with the same fate as ‘CC2C’.
 
Now that coincidences are over, we have a more monotonous task of looking into what this movie has to offer. The only problem with ‘Chance Pe Dance’ is that it is not what Ken Ghosh promised. The director promised a film which is not focused only on dance and a feel-good entertainer. ‘CPD’ does not turn up to be an entertainer, it does not make you feel good and it’s primarily focused on dance!
 
Sameer Behl is a struggler who comes to Mumbai to become a star. Three years thence he is still a struggler and at breaking point. Things get worse when he is thrown out of his promised debut and also his rented apartment. He subsequently starts living in his car, which he had managed to buy after doing a ‘lungi’ commercial. Sameer finds motivation in some school kids and goes to try out his luck by contesting in a talent show. In between all this he also finds the love of his life.
 
Most of what is introduced in the story has a loose end. Genelia’s character is reduced to someone who stands by the hero despite having her own distinct identity. The angle of kids is summed up without any expected ‘hungama’. The father, played by Parikshit Sahni, has nothing much for himself. And Mohnish Behl as the hot-shot director looks too stupid with the dialogues given to him. Come to think of it, the dialogues have been written by Manu Rishi who had earlier won awards for his work in ‘Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!’. However, to give Ken credit where he deserves, all the characters mentioned do have their identities.
 
‘Chance Pe Dance’ is quite uninspiring. At some level it is extremely similar to ‘Let’s Dance’ which had introduced Gayatri Patel last year. Even in that film the protagonist wanted to be a star, sees rejection, teaches kids and is inspired by them and finally makes it. That film had emerged as nothing but a portfolio for Gayatri who is a fantastic dancer. But Shahid, after all these years of work, didn’t really need a portfolio to prove his capability. Yet the camera is more focused on his abs and dance moves.
 
Shahid Kapoor outdoes himself and proves that he is indeed an actor to look forward to. Genelia hardly has anything to do though. The rest are just there.
 
Ken Ghosh’s latest film, which comes after a 5-year hiatus, ends up being an example of mediocrity. Never for once will you feel for the protagonist’s helplessness as the director fails to involve the audience into the story. And neither will his triumph interest you! ‘CPD’ at best resembles one of those innings by Tendulkar (in this case Shahid) where he hits a century and yet India loses!