Plot:
The politics of local goons in Pune transgress into a big brawl with no limits. Something which passively overlooks all of this including friendships, betrayals and festivities is Chowk.
Rating:
Team:
Cast- Pravin Tarde, Upendra Limaye, Kiran Gaikwad, Akshay Tanksale
Writer & Director – Devendra Gaikwad
Cinematography- Mayur Hardas
Music – Sai Piyush and Omkar Swaroop
Review:
On its surface, Chowk is a very close to real commentary on the local youth trying to be Kingmakers and losing themselves in the marsh that is politics. Helmed by the debutant writer and director Devendra Gaikwad, Chowk is an action political drama which beats all the drums but fails to make any noise.
Set-in modern-day Pune, the film starts with the loud and full-fledged festivities of Ganesh Utsav. Two groups of young leaders are stuck in a face off. The Puneri tradition of gathering all the groups in Alka Chowk is at its peak when Adhyaksh of Dosti Group (Shubhankar Ekbote) slaps Balya (Akshay Tanksale) in a feud.
Turns out Balya is the younger brother of Mayor fondly called as Tiger Bhau (Upendra Limaye). Again, to sort this all out, comes the opposition contender Anna Bhau (Pravin Tarde). Everything seems settled for the moment but this feud catches on fire as it breathes. The war and politics between the two young bloods start with no limits on their minds.
The film largely focuses on the human side of the goons which they tend to forget as their raging blood engages in gang war and political turmoil. It has a very promising start with the fast-paced turn of events happening all around but loses off its steam after the first 30-40 minutes.
Chowk loses itself while managing the family side of all the characters. The pacing takes a beating at this very moment and the film turns into a borefest thereon. It loses its grip on the tightly controlled character arcs after a point. In simple words, it drags itself a lot to prove its point.
Pravin Tarde is at his best again. The humorous bhai with his own swag is just a treat. Upendra Limaye’s heavy base matched with the larger than life one liners make his performance a meaty one. Kiran Gaikwad and Shubhankar Ekbote also do justice to their roles. Like I said, it beats all the drums, but fails to make the noise. The acting and the casting is near perfect but the pacing of the film turns the film into a lacklustre affair.
The background music really stands out and deserves all the praise. There aren’t many songs to start with and the ones which are there are nothing but ordinary. The camerawork is also subtle and quite technically clinical. The only departments which take the whole film down are writing and editing. The hanging and unapologetic climax also fails to leave an impact.
All in all, Chowk is a below average mix of political drama and goondaism set in the heart of Pune. It just might create the hype of being Mulshi Pattern 2.0 but it fails. Give it a watch only for Pravin Tarde maybe. His sarcastic tone and aura will make you laugh to the core.
