‘Chaalis Chauraasi’ as an attention-grabbing premise and some truly wonderful scenes, but the writing lacks the energy and dynamism to keep you hooked. If the first half is lacklustre, the post-interval portions are marginally thrilling, but the penultimate moments -- the tryst with the terrorists -- tries so hard to be funny that it falls flat on its face. In fact, the finale should've been the highpoint of the film. It's sad to watch a fantastic cast being underutilized. One has come to expect a bravura performance from Naseeruddin Shah, but he's just about okay and even Kay Kay Menon is mediocre. The sequence of events that unfold are of the run of the mill variety and what's surprising is that director Hriday Shetty devotes the entire first hour on the back-story of the four characters, instead of cutting it short and taking the story forward. The movie is highly disappointing and could have been managed better!