Set in Amritsar, this film’s mouth-watering title Kulche Chole conjures up the hustle-bustle of the narrow city streets, where almost every nook and cranny offers culinary delights to whet your appetite. Unfortunately, the romantic comedy directed by Simranjit Singh Hundal is bland and laboured in comparison.
The film traces the story of Jaggi (Dilraj Grewal), an engineer who finds it hard to find a job to suit his qualifications. Dejected after his numerous rejections, he is nonetheless motivated by his friend Kala (Jaswant Singh Rathore) to not lose heart. However, Jaggi has one undeniable skill, he makes the most delicious chole. Kala recognises his talent and encourages him to set up his own Kulche Chole cart. Apprehensive at first, Jaggi finds it hard to give up his dream of being in a posh office at a comfortable position, but he comes to realise that no job is big or small.
Once the business takes off, Kala, who seems to have taken on the responsibility to get his friend settled, then embarks on a quest to find him a suitable match. Herein lies the complication. No parent wants their daughter to be married to a man who runs a small makeshift food cart on the roadside.
After numerous meetings with potential brides, Jaggi is smitten when he meets Harleen (Jannat Zubair), the daughter of a very wealthy man, and realises that his financial status will be unacceptable to the family. But no cost is too high to pay in love. He strings a series of lies to impress her family and marry her. But Harleen’s brother Jimmy smells a rat and is determined to find out the truth.
Jaggi’s cover-up for his elaborate deception takes up a large part of the narrative and the film relies on dialogues to be the primary source of humour, together with the heavy-handed sound effects. While the funny one-liners work in part, mainly due to the excellent comic timing of Jaswant Singh Rathore who stands out with his commendable performance, the wafer-thin plot has little to offer.
The second half concentrates on Jaggi trying to desperately hide the truth by hook or crook. But the chickens come home to roost and he must face up to his misdeeds. The tracks of Harleen’s brother Jimmy and his techie friend and MLA Suchha Singh are tone-deaf attempts at humour.
Dilraj Grewal has a long way to go in terms of his acting skills and delivers a rather wooden performance. Television actor Jannat Zubair, who has been seen in supporting roles on the big screen, marks her debut as female lead with the film and essays her role well though there does not seem to be much chemistry between the lead pair.
The film’s music does offer some memorable tracks, chief amongst them being Mika Singh’s “Chardikala”, followed by the peppy number “Tera Naam Bolda”, featuring Himmat Sandhu and Shipra Goyal’s earthy vocals. The heartbreak song “Farz” by Simar Sethi is a slow, soulful track.
The friendship between Kala and Jaggi is the heart of the film, but fails to get the centrestage. Instead, the narrative meanders into unnecessary tracks just to elicit a few laughs. There is also a social message tucked in Kulche Chole about the staggering unemployment in Punjab and the inability of educated young men to find a suitable job, but the message is garbled. These details rob the film of its emotional core, making it like any other middling comedy, which are a dime a dozen in Punjabi cinema today.
Kulche Chole movie cast: Dilraj Grewal, Jannat Zubair, Jaswant Singh Rathore, Gurinder Makna
Kulche Chole movie director: Simranjit Singh Hundal
Kulche Chole movie rating: 2 stars
