[6] The film revolves around a vegetable cutter from Chandni Chowk in Delhi who finds himself on an adventure in China after the residents of an oppressed village deem him to be the reincarnation of a slain Chinese revolutionary.

Sidhesh Sharma, aka Sidhu, is a simple vegetable cutter at a roadside food stall in the Chandni Chowk section of Delhi.

He consults astrologers, tarot card readers, and fake fakirs to turn around his destiny despite his foster father, Dada, pushing him to believe in himself instead.

The website's consensus reads: "A thin plot is disguised by high octane dancing and action in this Bollywood crossover comedy.

[16] Claudia Puig of USA Today said, "This Indian/Chinese cinematic hybrid is likable and entertaining but overlong and occasionally hokey", and that Kumar's "physical humor brings to mind Jim Carrey".

[17] 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.

[18] 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".

"[20] 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",[21] 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".

[22] Michael Philips of the Chicago Tribune called the film "a massive and rather tiring showcase for Bollywood action hero Akshay Kumar".

[27] Protestors threatened to burn cinemas that screened the film, and racial slurs like "Dhoti" were hurled against Indians online.

[27] The protests continued for several days, despite the Nepali distributor deleting the piece of narration that mentioned Buddha in the copies of the film shown in Nepal.

[29] Mostly, supporters of Kumar, especially Nikhil Advani stated that it was a publicity stunt to bring Suman's son Adhyayan in limelight for release of his film Raaz: The Mystery Continues.