Chandni Chowk to China
Metascore
44 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 22 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 22
  3. Negative: 5 out of 22
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  1. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Curiel
    75
    More important is to be in a silly mood yourself. Without that - without a complete suspension of disbelief - Chandni Chowk to China is a drag to sit through.
  2. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Michael Hardy
    75
    Although Americans may be overwhelmed by the dizzy mix of music, dancing, and kung fu, they should have no trouble appreciating the talent of this extraordinary entertainer.
  3. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    63
    Fun but somewhat exhausting.
  4. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    63
    There are inventive and engaging moments in this broadly comic action saga. But Chandni is at once enjoyable and maddening.
  5. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    63
    For those with an adventurous and offbeat cinematic appetite, Chandni Chowk to China offers its shares of enjoyments, although there are plenty of "downs" to go along with the "ups."
  6. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Joe Neumaier
    60
    With musical numbers and fight scenes as big as its heart, director Nikhil Advani's action-comedy really does sample it all.
  7. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Rachel Saltz
    60
    Starts too frantically but settles down to become an enjoyable if slight Saturday-matinee picture.
  8. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Corliss
    60
    A decent sampler for Americans who've never seen a full-out Bollywood musical, since it goes heavy on the action scenes and light on the big dance numbers.
  9. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Bill White
    58
    Its combination of maudlin sincerity, cruel slapstick, exotic romanticism and boogie-down dance sequences may befuddle more than it entertains.
  10. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    50
    It will appeal to the large Indian audiences in North America and to Bollywood fans in general, who will come out wondering why this movie, of all movies, was chosen as Hollywood's first foray into commercial Indian cinema.
  11. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    50
    A massive and rather tiring showcase for Bollywood action hero Akshay Kumar.
  12. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Stephen Cole
    50
    At two hours and 34 minutes, CC2C is too much by a half: too much dancing and fighting and too much footage of the Great Wall of China. It does, however, have a vulgar energy and many of the jokes work.
  13. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    50
    Fitfully amusing.
  14. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Andrea Gronvall
    50
    Of some interest for promoting rapprochement between India and China, this is still awfully silly.
  15. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    42
    A more accurate way to describe it would be "conceptual nightmare"--crass, schizophrenic, culturally insensitive, horribly paced, and shameless in its pandering to the lowest common denominator.
  16. Variety
    Reviewed by: John Anderson
    40
    As with many a Bollywood epic, you can bring the kids, your lunch, your cell phone, your unfiled taxes. There's so much here, and in such heaping, lengthy portions, you could probably weave a sari before the end credits.
  17. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Dan Kois
    40
    It's a live-action Looney Tunes cartoon that lasts 154 minutes rather than just five, and it's as exhausting as it sounds.
  18. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    38
    Entertainingly goofy for about 30 minutes. And then, for the next two hours-plus, it's agony.
  19. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Staff (Not credited)
    30
    2 1/2 hours of shouting, gesticulating, pratfalls and groin kicks will leave viewers with an MSG headache.
  20. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    30
    It's chop-socky vindaloo, pleasing on a platter but awfully difficult to swallow whole.
  21. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    25
    It all makes you want to see a Bollywood movie, all right -- a good one.
  22. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: David Chute
    20
    Alas, Chandni Chowk to China, directed by Nikhil Advani, is asymmetrical in the extreme: shapeless, shameless, and slapdash.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.5 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 24 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 16
  3. Negative: 5 out of 16
  1. Thegodfatherson
    4
    Chandni Chowk is a historic market place in the walled city of old Delhi, so now you understand the title of "Chandni Chowk to China," and because the plot is simplicity itself, there is nothing else to understand but its origins. This is the first Bollywood movie to get a North American release from a major studio, and was chosen, I suspect, because it is a slapstick comedy containing a lot of kung fu. That, and maybe because it stars Akshay Kumar billed as "the heartthrob of Indian cinema and current reigning king of Bollywood."

    I would need to see Kumar in something other than this to understand his fame. He comes across here as a cross between Jerry Lewis and Adam Sandler, but less manic than Jerry and not as affable as Sandler. What I can understand is that his co-star, Deepika Padukone, abandoned a promising start as a badminton champion to become a model and actress. She is breathtaking, which of course is standard in Bollywood, where all the actresses are either breathtaking or playing mothers.

    The story plays as though it could be remade as a Sandler comedy with no changes except for length. When you go to a movie in India, you get your money's worth, in what takes the time of a double feature. As my Mumbai friend Uma da Cunha told me, big Bollywood movies give you everything: adventure, thrills, romance, song, dance, stunts, the works. In India, when you go to the movies, you go to the movies. "Chandni Chowk to China" plays at 168 minutes, having been shortened, I learn, for the American release. It would be safe to say few viewers will complain of its brevity.

    Kumar stars as Sidhu, a lowly potato and onion chopper in his father's potato pancake stand. He adores his Dada, despite the old man's propensity for kicking him so high over Delhi that he's a hazard to low-flying aircraft. As eager to please as a puppy, he has a gift for getting into trouble, but all that changes the day he finds the image of a god on one of his potatoes. This image, to my eye, makes the eBay portraits on grilled cheese sandwiches look like Norman Rockwells.

    No matter. He exhibits the potato and collects donations, which are stolen by the nefarious Chopstick; meanwhile, in China, a village is menaced by an evil hoodlum named Hojo, no relation to the U.S. pancake vendor. Two villagers happen upon Sidhu in Chandni Chowk and are convinced he is the reincarnation of the mighty kung-fu warrior who saved them from bandits in times long past. Sidhu is soon lured to their village, being promised wealth and voluptuous pleasures, but is now expected to defeat Hojo, who uses his bowler hat as a flying guillotine and may plausibly be related to Odd Job.

    Enter the ravishing Deepika Padukone, in a dual role of Sakhi and Meow Meow, an Indian home shopping network hostess and Chinese tigress. Kissing in public is severely frowned upon in India, so that the greatest tension in all romances comes as a heroine is maybe, just maybe, about to kiss someone. This illustrates my maxim that it is less erotic to snoggle for 60 minutes than spend 60 seconds wondering if you are about to be snoggled.

    Sidhu becomes involved with both Sakhi and Meow Meow, whose surprise relationship might have been more surprising had they not been played by the same actress. There are lots of martial-arts sequences, and of course several song-and-dance numbers, including an Indian rap performance. It's done with great energy but with a certain detachment, as if nothing really matters but the energy.

    "Chandni Chowk to China" won't attract many fans of kung fu or Adam Sandler, for that matter. The title and the ads will cause them to think for a second, an unacceptable delay for fanboys. It will appeal to the large Indian audiences in North America and to Bollywood fans in general, who will come out wondering why this movie, of all movies, was chosen as Hollywood's first foray into commercial Indian cinema. I don't know a whole lot about Bollywood, and even I could name some better possibilities.    … Full Review »
  2. StevenB.
    9
    Funny Fast and has Kung Fu. Its a little too long the reason why I rated it down one. But apart from that it is a brilliant film. Watch if you like silly comical films but can also put up with length (2hr+).… Full Review »
  3. SidS
    0
    Useless Garbage!
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