MID DAY, DELHI - FEB 7, 2003
Deepti makes her character’s bouncing sexual energy – pitched against that of the young man – rather believable. Here’s an actress who’s been constantly typecast as a weeping willow when there’s such a special sparkle to her personality that this film rightly taps.

PLANET BOLLYWOOD - FILM REVIEW - FREAKY CHAKRA
The film belongs to Deepti Naval. She completely outdoes herself, even after bravura performances in Leela and Shakti. Deepti Naval is miscast in most films as an elderly woman in distress, but she proves herself capable of much, much more here. The subtle touches in her extraordinary performance are truly indicative of genius. Be it the spark of anger in her eyes when she realizes the water in her apartment isn’t working, the euphoria she tries to hide when Sunil compliments her hair, or the yearning she expresses in the mirror each night before her phone call, Deepti handles all her expressions and scenes with the utmost sincerity and aplomb. And who ever imagined Naval could look so young and beautiful if given the chance? This film proves how tragically underused Naval really is in Indian films, and it’s truly worth watching just for her tour de force performance. After Raveena’s great work in Satta, this is another one of the best female performances on the Indian screen in what seems like ages.

AFTERNOON, FEB 7, 2003
Deepti Naval has resurfaced after a really long slumber, and it is her latest film, Freaky Chakra that is announcing her arrival on the scenes again. While most wonder where Miss Chamko disappeared, we were very helpfully informed that she spent all this time, “living her personal life.” Which as we got to know later, was indulging in her creative side? Writing poetry and photography were the order for the day, while painting and acting came a close second.

AFTERNOON, FEB 8, 2003
‘Deepti’s first rate performance and Ousephachan’s music are two plus points in this ‘okay’ film.’

BOMBAY TIMES, FEB 13, 2003
Deepti’s return to the big screen has already been greeted with rave reviews for her – she plays a 40 year old who flips for a younger guy.

BOLLYWOOD CALLING, JAN 15, 2003
Once upon a time she was the sweet girl next door in movies like Chashme Buddoor and Saath Saath, middle-of-the-road cinema that established DEEPTI NAVAL as an actress to reckon with. Deepti is back – and seems to be in great form. In Freaky Chakra, she plays a 40-year-old eccentric woman who is highly temperamental and invites unnecessary attention.

DELHI TIMES,MAR 2003
The atmosphere here warmed up further when the talented actress Deepti Naval walked in. Sporting a blue silk shirt and black trousers, she is charm personified.
The cynosure of all eyes was Deepti, who is making a comeback after a 10-year hiatus. “The film offered me the kind of role I was looking for… I had no qualms about playing a 40-year old woman in the film because I could identify with her,” said Deepti with a smile.

MID DAY, FEB 7, 2003
Though the grace that cannot save this, Naval looks fresh playing an unlikely character.

BOMBAY NEWSLINE, FEB 9, 2003
Deepti Naval plays a lonely, eccentric widow who decorates corpses for a living; post the morbidities of a working day, she comes home to a heavy-breathing caller, whom she willingly submits to. Along comes a pesky paying guest (Sunil Raoh), who moves into her spare room, and into her bed, in short order.

SCREEN, FEB 13, 2003
It is good to see Deepti Naval back in action. She plays Ms. Thomas with breathtaking subtlety, brining on the burlesque at one moment, and being deeply sensuous the next.

SUNDAY, TIMES OF INDIA - FEB 9, 2003
‘Ultimately, the film’s main hook, and which elevates it above the commonplace., is the bold, riveting performance by Deepti Naval.
A Godsent to the camera (which often captures her in unflattering close-ups), Ms. Naval embodies her role with characteristic ease.

THE ASIAN AGE - MAR 5, 2004
In a world where almost all actresses have to toe the Bollywood stereotype if only to prove their versatility, Deepti Naval’s career has however remained distinctly different finds.

THE ASIAN AGE, MUMBAI - FEB 13, 2003
‘However, it is Naval’s Ms. Thomas that fascinates with her tongue-in-cheek transition from frump to prom queen, without missing a beat. Though lacking Dimple Kapadia’s oomph and glamour, Deepti makes her character bouncing with sexual energy when pitched against the young man, so believable, it’s unbelievable. Here’s an actress who’s been constantly typecast as a weeping willow, when she has a sparkling personality that this film rightly taps.
Some of her scenes with the young man, such as the one where she reluctantly offers him morning tea for the first time, are beautifully done.

THE PIONEER, LUCKNOW - JAN 31, 2003
Deepti Naval belongs in a different league. Her image as a new-age naturalistic performer gets a new lease of life in “Freaky Chakra”.
Playing a 40-year-old widow who gets involved with her 19-year old paying guest, Deepti success in this urbanized ‘Hinglish’ film would be regarded as a step ahead for a modest movement that began last year when female-oriented films like Somnath Sen’s “Leela and Shahilal Nair’s “Ek Chotisi Love Story” made profits.

THE TIMES OF INDIA - FEB 4, 2003
Deepti, who has always done meaningful cinema in the past, said the gamut of emotions that her character goes through in the film was what attracted her to play an eccentric 40-year-old widow who makes a living out of embalming the dead and who later falls in love with her young paying guest. “The idea of getting to play so many shades of emotions in one film is irresistible for an actress, even though it was a little difficult for me to accept my character in totality.” She said.