Sidhu [Akshay Kumar] is a lowly vegetable cutter at a roadside food stall in the Chandni Chowk section of Delhi. He longs to escape his dreary existence and looks for shortcuts with astrologers, tarot card readers, and fake fakirs, refusing to believe in himself despite his foster father Dadas [Mithun Chakraborty] best efforts. When two strangers from China claim him as a reincarnation of a war hero in the past and take him to China, Sidhu, thanks to devious translations by his con-man buddy Chopstick [Ranvir Shorey], believes he will be taken to an exotic land and feted as a hero. In actuality, the Chinese men want him to rid their Chinese village of the vicious smuggler Hojo [Gordon Liu]. Sidhu blissfully sets forth to China with Chopstick. Along the way he meets Sakhi [Deepika Padukone], the Indian-Chinese spokesmodel known as Ms. Tele Shoppers Media, or Ms. TSM, who is travelling to the land of her birth and of her presumed-dead [who is still alive] father and her twin sister, Suzy. Suzy, also known as the femme fatale Meow Meow, works for Hojo, not knowing Hojo tried to kill her father. Sidhu, through a series of lucky coincidences, initially manages to sidestep being beaten by Hojos men, but Hojo eventually catches up with him and exposes him as the buffoon he really is. Hojo kills Dada, and a disgraced Sidhu, left for dead himself, vows revenge. He encounters an amnesiac vagrant who turns out to be former Police Chief Chiang [Roger Yuan], the father of Sakhi and Suzy. Chiang recovers his memory, with his Kung Fu skills still intact. Sidhu wishes to learn cosmo Kung Fu. Chiang takes Sidhu on as his apprentice, and after months of training, Sidhu decides to kill Hojo. Hojo tells a lie to Meow Meow that Chiang killed her father. When Hojo meets up with Sidhu, Meow Meow hugs Chiang and stabs him in the back with a knife. Sidhu attacks Meow Meow, but Sakhi stops him. Meow Meow was shocked and figured out that Hojo lied to her. Meow Meow betrays Hojo and helps her father. They watch Sidhu battle Hojo. When Sidhu almost loses, his dada appears and tells him not to worship a potato and Chiang tells him to use the skill that is special to him. His specialty was chopping vegetables and cooking which helped him defeat Hojo in the end. In the end, Sidhu gains Sakhis love.

Production

The film, earlier known as Mera Naam Chin Chin Choo and also Made in China, is written by Sridhar Raghavan. Shooting began in January 2008 and included a schedule in China. The music is by Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy. The film also features music by Kailash Kher, Bappi Lahiri-Bappa Lahiri and a rap song sung by Akshay Kumar and composed by Punjabi rapper Bohemia. The soundtrack album was released 2 December 2008. The film was rated PG-13 by the MPAA, for violence and martial arts action.

Critical reception

= The movie received neagative reviews. It received 46% positive ratings on the film-critics aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes and a 44 out of 100 score from Metacritic. Claudia Puig of USA Today said, "This Indian/Chinese cinematic hybrid is likable and entertaining but overlong and occasionally hokey", and that star Akshay Kumars "physical humor brings to mind Jim Carrey". John Anderson of Variety wrote, "If Chandni Chowk to China were a person, it would need Valium", and found that "everything is fast and furious, hilarious, hysterical and frantic. Some of the sequences ... are quite beautiful and, in the case of the dance numbers featuring Padukone, stunning. But its the fight scenes ... that truly take off". Frank Lovece of Newsday wrote, "Less a Bollywood bonbon than a pan-Asian fusion dish, this combination of Indian musical and Chinese chopsocky is, nonetheless, delicious fun". Steven Rae of The Philadelphia Inquirer stated that, "Chandni Chowk is entertainingly goofy for about 30 minutes. And then, for the next two hours-plus, its agony." Scott Tobias of The Onion described the film as "crass, schizophrenic, culturally insensitive, horribly paced, and shameless in its pandering to the lowest common denominator", while Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly said, "This galumphing elephant of a chopsocky revenge-of-the-nerd quasi-musical lacks the lyrical choreographic beauty that has marked such Stateside Bollywood releases as the gorgeous Lagaan". Michael Philips of the Chicago Tribune called the film "a massive and rather tiring showcase for Bollywood action hero Akshay Kumar". Indian critic Taran Adarsh gave the movie 1.5/5 stars, calling it "a big, big, big letdown". Rajeev Masand of IBN termed it a tiring watch, while praising Kumars performance. The film has received one award nomination, with Deepika Padukone being nominated for Best Actress at the 3rd Asian Film Awards held in March 2009.

Tracks

= The album consists of the following eight tracks:

Reception

= Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama.com rated it 3.5/5, claiming, "Chandni Chowk to China is clearly the next musical hit in the making."

Controversy

In Nepal, there were protests against the film due to a passing claim that Buddha was born in India; Lumbini, which is the birthplace of Buddha, is located in Nepal. Several shows were cancelled due to heavy protests from students and youth groups. Protests included threats by Buddhists to burn movie theaters that screened the film, and racial slurs like "Dhoti" [the Indian term for a form of traditional clothing which is used as a derogatory racial slur against Indians in Nepal, see Usage of Dhoti in Nepal] hurled at the Indian embassy in Katmandu. The protests continued for several days, despite the Nepali distributor editing out the piece of narration that mentioned Buddha in the copies of the film shown in Nepal. On Thursday, 22 January Nepali cinemas stopped screening Chandni Chowk to China.

Box office reception

= Chandni Chowk to China earned INR 330 million [210 million net] in its opening weekend. The films total North American box office in the four weeks of running was $921,738. The film was a resounding flop everywhere.