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Chandni Chowk to China
Warner Bros. Pictures

Chandni Chowk to China reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 44 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
5.6 out of 10
based on 22 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 21 votes
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MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Mithun Chakraborty, and Chia Hui Liu

From Chutney in India to Chow Mein in China, Chandni Chowk to China follows one man's passage from simple cook to kung fu fighter on a thrilling, madcap journey from the by-lanes of Chandni Chowk in Delhi, India, to the grandeur of the Great Wall of China and beyond. The first-ever Bollywood kung fu action comedy, the film brings together the two largest Asian communities, India and China, on one cinematic canvas. (Warner Bros.)


GENRE(S): Action  |  Comedy  
WRITTEN BY: Rajat Arora
Shridhar Raghavan
 
DIRECTED BY: Nikhil Advani  
RELEASE DATE: Theatrical: January 16, 2009 
RUNNING TIME: 168 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: India | USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75
Boston Globe Michael Hardy
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.
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75
San Francisco Chronicle Jonathan Curiel
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.
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63
New York Post Lou Lumenick
Fun but somewhat exhausting.
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63
USA Today Claudia Puig
There are inventive and engaging moments in this broadly comic action saga. But Chandni is at once enjoyable and maddening.
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63
ReelViews James Berardinelli
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."
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60
The New York Times Rachel Saltz
Starts too frantically but settles down to become an enjoyable if slight Saturday-matinee picture.
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60
New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
With musical numbers and fight scenes as big as its heart, director Nikhil Advani's action-comedy really does sample it all.
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60
Time Richard Corliss
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.
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58
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White
Its combination of maudlin sincerity, cruel slapstick, exotic romanticism and boogie-down dance sequences may befuddle more than it entertains.
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50
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
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.
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50
Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
A massive and rather tiring showcase for Bollywood action hero Akshay Kumar.
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50
Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Fitfully amusing.
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50
Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
Of some interest for promoting rapprochement between India and China, this is still awfully silly.
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50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole
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.
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42
The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
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.
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40
Variety John Anderson
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.
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40
Washington Post Dan Kois
It's a live-action Looney Tunes cartoon that lasts 154 minutes rather than just five, and it's as exhausting as it sounds.
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38
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Entertainingly goofy for about 30 minutes. And then, for the next two hours-plus, it's agony.
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30
The Hollywood Reporter Staff (Not credited)
2 1/2 hours of shouting, gesticulating, pratfalls and groin kicks will leave viewers with an MSG headache.
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30
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
It's chop-socky vindaloo, pleasing on a platter but awfully difficult to swallow whole.
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25
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
It all makes you want to see a Bollywood movie, all right -- a good one.
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20
Village Voice David Chute
Alas, Chandni Chowk to China, directed by Nikhil Advani, is asymmetrical in the extreme: shapeless, shameless, and slapdash.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 5.6 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Nookie B. gave it a9:
I have no idea what you guys are talking about. Being some one who speaks hindi and was born in china, this movie is fantastic. It is really fun, the jokes are funnying and you should understand and flying around in the movies are all metaphor. Chainese believe that once you master kung fu you can take energy from the element around you and use it as a force that can vanish your enamies. Therefore you need to understand a little bit of chainese cinema and also chainese culture to appreciate this movie.

Moy K. gave it a0:
Its unfortunate to start a year with this kind of movie .. Nikhil Advani should be banned to make movies ... he is disgusting and the movie is worst than horse crap.

IndianGeek Geeks gave it a7:
Hmmm, Its a good movie but not an Excellent one! It actually a comedy and action movie and as Parul has said , Akshays comedy is not very effective this time! He has tried ,many times to make people laugh but never worked! And action is fine ! Though not good as Ghajini! While Comparing CCTC to Ghajini and Rab Ne , I feel Rab Ne and Ghajini is Better and if you haven't seen Rab Ne/ Ghajini , go see them first and then see CC2C ,if you have money/time left! If u like comedy genre movies then maybe CC2C is worth watching once!

Vishal G. gave it a10:
Wonderful movie, akshay has proved himself one again that he is the undisputed No 1 of Bollywood.

Gaurav J. gave it a3:
Being an Indian and a good connoisseur of Hindi cinema really this is one of the worst movies. For those critics who have mentioned this movie reflecting Indian cinema I would completely disagree. An average avid Indian movie goer would go asleep in this kind of movie. The only thing good about this movie are the stunts and kung fu. All it makes me wonder is what made Warner Bros. pick this project to enter Indian market ? And really are they coming up with a sequel to this Chandni Chowk to Africa. Please no.

dinesh s. gave it a10:
Nice movie with action of akshay & deepika, i like it very much.

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