In real court cases, even though the date is given on the date, but in films, all the work gets done in two-and-a-half hours. That’s fun too. Cinema has returned to theatres, and Rumi Jaffrey, who often writes romantic-comic films, has brought in a tight thriller-mystery as a director. The courts are full of drama and there is a courtroom drama in this film, which seems no less than the original. Some retired old people of the world of justice gather in a house every evening and make a case there and set up their court.
Sometimes they also find someone, on whose case they argue like a court and also reach the verdict. The face tells that courts make decisions, not justice! There is a difference between judgment and justice. The decision is made on the basis of facts. Therefore, it is not necessary that that judgment should be justice. In the film, Sameer Mehra (Emraan Hashmi), the CEO of an ad agency, who is on his way to Delhi in the heavy snowfall of Manali, gets stuck in the middle.
One, a tree fell on the way and the car got damaged on it. Suddenly he meets Paramjit Singh Bhullar (Annu Kapoor), who tells him that he can spend time with his senior citizen friends till the weather clears. Both reach the house of retired judge Jagdish Acharya (Dhritiman Chatterjee). Prominent among others in his troupe there are Taleef Zaidi (Amitabh Bachchan), who retired as a criminal lawyer, and Hariya Jatav (Raghuveer Yadav), a hangman.
In connection with the matter, Sameer Mehra is asked whether he has ever committed any crime. Sameer denies that never. Not even a wrongdoing. He then tells that his former boss Oswal (Sameer Soni) died sometime back. He was a khadoos type man. In his place, Sameer has been promoted in the company. At this point Latif Zaidi says that it is okay, let’s assume that Mehra has killed Oswal. Let the case be pursued.
The question arises at this point of the story that how will this case progress and on the basis of what arguments will it be decided that Mehra killed Oswal. Taleef Zaidi says that he will prove in court with his experience that Mehra has killed Sameer, risking his reputation as a brilliant lawyer. If you can not do this then you will never play this game in future.
The court walks out and in the midst of Mehra’s talk, it appears in the light of Zaidi’s arguments that Sameer has been murdered. But did it really happen? What was the real reason for Sameer’s death? Was Mehra really in that? As long as the audience is thinking that the story reaches the point where Mehra is proved guilty in the court of old friends. Now there is also an executioner who tightens the noose. What will happen to Mehra?
Chehre is an interesting story but the drama part is less in it. Most of the conversation goes on. Especially in the first part. In the second, of course, when the cross-examination of the court game starts in Mehra’s favor and some things are revealed, then the excitement increases. But in the end, the film falls entirely in the hands of Amitabh Bachchan expressing his opinion on the judicial system, where he tries to create a tide of emotions by speaking alone a 10-12 minute long dialogue.
The gist of his words is that justice and judgment are different things. There are many views around the world regarding courts and justice. The story looks strong on paper. Some strong parts of it have come out from the pen of Ranjit Kapoor-Rumi Jaffrey. Some dialogues are also good. Rumi Jaffrey has a grip on the direction and is able to keep her captive even in a limited range.
At the level of performance, both Amitabh Bachchan and Emraan Hashmi are good. Different shades are seen in his characters. Both create emotional appeal from their characters. Attract the audience. The roles of Annu Kapoor, Raghuveer Yadav, Dhritiman Chatterjee are interesting. Riya Chakraborty’s role is small but with Emraan Hashmi, she leaves an impact at two places. Krystle D’Souza, Sameer Soni and Siddhant Kapoor have played their roles as per the script. For the audiences who like the mix of court drama and crime, Chehre is for them.