Getting straight to the point, what makes 'Chaalbaaz' immensely enjoyable is Sridevi. Displaying her comedic skills to the max, she proves again why she's among the best. Dual roles weren't anything new to her and here she plays mirror image twins. There's the tough kickass no nonsense Manju and her (separated at birth) pushover sister Anju who's brutally abused by her maternal Uncle. The story falls on the lines of 'Seeta aur Geeta'. Those were also the days when Sunny Deol was quite likable as an actor that he would do a little more acting than the over the top action sequences. Rajnikunt isn't bad either. Anupam Kher and Rohini Hattangadi are good as the caricature evil Uncle and Aunt. Shakti Kapoor is quite annoying and a young Aftab Shivdasani is unintentionally funny. One ought to keep in mind that 'Chaalbaaz' is a masala entertainer and not to be taken too seriously. On the down side, many of the songs are terrible but there are a few that are worth watching only because of Sridevi's dance and comedy. On the technical side, it's not very impressive as cinematography, sound and lighting is quite poor (which was the case with most 80s commercial Hindi films).
However, 'Çhaalbaaz' provides plenty of laugh out loud moments to make it worthwhile and that is due to the divine Sridevi. Thanks to her, this one woman show is worth watching.
However, 'Çhaalbaaz' provides plenty of laugh out loud moments to make it worthwhile and that is due to the divine Sridevi. Thanks to her, this one woman show is worth watching.