This is a wonderful movie. It's not a 'masala' type Hindi movie. It's a lovely character study, mainly a two way dialog. I first saw that Kareena Kapoor had talent as an actor the initial time I viewed this, many years ago. I had always assumed she was a one act wonder, candy to look at and a reasonable to good dancer. But there was nuance to her acting in this, and she played well against Rahul Bose, who has the goods as an actor. I believe it is one of this director's best, but it doesn't end on the harsh note that some of his things do. Though there is some ambiguity in the end, we are not left holding our own mangled hearts and feeling despair, which this director has shown himself quite capable of doing. This is, for the most part, a quiet movie, and it pays close attention to the development of, not only the characters, but our investment in them. I went away invested in all of these characters, and now own a copy to watch at will. Pay attention to Makarand Deshpande, who is fantastic as the cab driver (he also plays the wanderer who directs Shah Rukh's character in Swades, again with an unforgettable flair.. I wish he had larger roles in more things, as he is a delight to watch).

'Chameli' is a movie about a prostitute and a banker. Aman (Rahul Bose) and Chameli (Kareena Kapoor) happen to spend the night under the same roof after Aman's car breaks down and Chameli tries to hide from a potential customer who has AIDS. In the course of the night, they come close to each other and share each other's woes. And after that, this movie tells about what happens to them and how they come to terms with their situation. All of the events happen in the course of one night.'Chameli' is a bad movie made worse by the treatment. There's not even a story in this film just character development. The director just introduces two characters to us and lets them talk throughout the movie. It gets horribly boring at a point.Kareena Kapoor tries hard to play the role of a sex worker. And she thinks she can pull it off by overacting. But mind you Ms. Kapoor, it doesn't always work. Rahul Bose is mundane and appears lost in front of the camera. The rest of the cast don't do much since the film is just about the two characters.The music in the movie is quite pleasing though. 'Bhaage re mann bhaage' and 'Saajna ve saajna' are the best tracks in the movie.Overall, a disappointing fare from Sudhir Mishra who gave us the brilliant 'Is Raat Ki Subaah Nahin' before. Avoid!

A grossly over rated movie with real awful acting from Kareena and big disappointment from Rahul Bose. The narration tries too hard to drive the script, where as the screen play withers away in the first 15 mins of the movie.The director should definitely give more thoughts as to how to progress a story and make it more realistic, and pace the movie better.Story seems awfully made for family audience, a prostitute and wealthy man combination.. hard to imagine not a single scene depicts any depth to the character or story. Another annoying part is the director deals with issue like homosexual attraction ( the guy and the enuch),AIDS etc in very light passing shades of grey and trys to depict the streets of mumbai in an extremely clean slate. Common folks who are we kidding?? Over all 3/10Subhakam

This movie was one of the best Indian films I have seen! I loved it. Such a well written film, and so sensitively portrayed. The acting was superb. I adore Rahul Bohse, he is always a delight to watch. I agree with another comment on this page, that he would have been ideal for the role in Kal Ho Na Ho, actually he would be ideal for many roles that I've seen being handed over to lesser actor's for their commercial appeal. He is a delight to watch no matter what character he plays. I first noticed him when he played Sunny in "Thakshak". He managed to upstage Ajay Devgan, who in my opinion is one of the best actor's in Bollywood. He proved he could do comedy too, with his role in Jhankar Beats. As for Kareena Kapoor, she was a pleasant surprise. I knew that she could act,but since she was always being "type-cast", she couldn't do much with her roles. I think she bought a touching sensitivity to the character. The fact that it was Kareena Kapoor acting as Chameli somehow made her plight even more poignant, because we know what she is like as a "carefree" character, and this is a direct contrast from that. This adds to the pathos in my opinion. There was a lot of depth in her performance. Well done Kareena!As for story, it attempts to realistically portray the lives of people in the red light districts, and especially those of women and their plight. The two protagonists are both in pain. They are both going through different types of pain in their lives, and for a moment they stop to share their plight with one another. It's the kind of encounter everyone dreams of. It's a very romantic meeting, albeit in a very unromantic setting. At heart, this movie is about finding love in the most unlikely places, and how a women who has lost faith in men has it restored by a kind and handsome stranger who wanted to help her without wanting anything back. This movie makes you believe that chivalry is not dead after all!