I usually do not read reviews before writing one so that other people’s views do not influence mine, in any way. But I loved Chopsticks so much that I was sure that it must have garnered only positive reviews and hence Googled ‘Chopsticks Review.’ To my surprise, critics do not seem much happy with the film. There might be two reasons for this: No sex or no payment.
No payment? Yes, no payment. If you read the audience reviews and the reviews that the known publications publish (for any latest web series or original film), you will find out the difference. Most of them are clearly paid reviews. Speaking of the ‘No Sex’ point, the makers of the web content are trying to attract the audience by selling sex, these days. Pick any one web series or short film and you will find that it is loaded with ‘unnecessary’ sex scenes. Some of them are simply promoting sex, and not the content. You know who, don’t you?
So, if the non-paid reviews are to be believed, Chopsticks is not worth watching. To me, it is. It is a feel-good film. After a long time, the web has released content which you can actually watch with your family, including children. I put it into the Jhankaar Beats movie category. It’s a classy film. It takes guts to handle such a simple subject with such finesse. It has no life-lessons, no tears, no rofl moments, but it’s still worth watching. It’s gripping. The pace of the film could have been a little faster but the slow pace takes you back to the Amol Palekar era where even in the films, people were just living their lives and the audience enjoyed watching the characters carry out their daily chores and also sorting out their life issues, painlessly.
I would like to give a thumbs up to Mithila Palkar’s performance. What a performance! With the kind of roles she has been doing, she has become a brand ambassador of ambitious girls who are struggling to make it big in the metro city, Mumbai. But Mithila Palkar was Nirma Sahastrabuddhe in Chopsticks, she wasn’t the Mithila you and I have seen on our mobile and laptop screens earlier. She has fantastically changed her body language. A super-confident girl like her was actually convincing as the one who has zero confidence. Her English, her Chinese, everything was fabulous.
Speaking of Abhay Deol, the promo rightly described him as ‘the charming conman.’ Oh, he is! It looked him he was just being him. He was that effortless.
What I loved the most about Chopsticks? No love drama between the characters, but yes, there was still bonding and a connection which slowly yet surely transforms them – Nirma into a confident girl and Artist into a Chef. The transition of the characters was smooth and convincing.
Being a film, many people would want it to be dramatic, full of twists and turns, and of course, drama. If that defines good content for you, stay away from Chopsticks. But if you are amongst the ones who like to sit back and relax on weekends without hammering yourself with more drama (real life is full of it anyway, isn’t it?), then Chopsticks is definitely for you.
Sit back, relax, and have fun!
Where to Watch? Netflix
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