I FINALLY GOT KANKED… AND A BIT ON ‘EKLAVYA’…

So, yonks after the rest of the world, I finally got KANKed yesterday. ‘Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna’ (KANK) is not a bad film, even if it’s not exactly good. It seems like Karan Johar is losing the plot a bit – always trying to make the big, over-dramatic, overly-contrived, star-studded epic even when the story clearly does not call for it – K3G had the same problem. Shankar Ehsaan Loy also seems to have lost the plot a bit for KANK (although it was obviously – and thankfully – a bump in the road, as they’ve done some great soundtracks since KANK), with a distinctly uninspired set of songs – I particularly hated ‘Rock n Roll Soniye’. I also hated the choreography and picturisation of the faster ‘disco’ numbers – even the special appearances by Kajol and John Abraham couldn’t save them for me. The slower songs I thought were a bit better – I like ‘Mitwa’.

What else did I hate about getting KANKed? The film was too long, they dragged it out too much and put in some unnecessary stuff – especially near the beginning. The truth is they didn’t need all that time to tell the story – thinking over it now, I can pick out the key scenes –some scenes just should have been cut from KANK in their entirety. It also seemed really unevenly scripted – some scenes were really good and nicely done, and some were just so blah. What else bugged me? The ‘Sexy Saaam’ thing they played almost everytime Amitabh Bachchan came onscreen, the often unfunny and irritating attempts at comic relief, the over-‘perfectness’ of all the sets, clothes, make-up and hair (although one just has to learn to live with that in many contemporary Bollywood films). Oh, and, is it just me or does Preity Zinta look kinda funny in this movie? There’s something about her eyes, it seems…



Okay, now that I’ve got all that out of the way… it’s really not a bad film. It actually works on some levels. As a story about relationships, communication, honesty, and all that good stuff, I think it works. My friend who lent me the DVD told me it’s a story about ‘real life issues’, and I agree. It’s a cautionary tale in some ways, but it’s not preachy. I think some scenes captured the discomfort, tension, conflict, and frustration of modern marriages very well – this might actually be a good film for married couples to watch together and have a ‘discussion’ about – but then what do I really know about marriage? Anyway, I liked the way they brought out some of the messiness, the false starts, the skewed timing, the complexity, the layers beneath all the ‘mundane-ness’ of modern relationships.

I think the performances were strong, even if none was particularly brilliant, and most had some rough patches (partly because it was all a bit too much, I think). I think I liked the older actors’ performances (Big B and Kirron Kher) best, actually. And what (asks, rather predictably, this SRK fan) is it with all the SRK-haters saying Shah Rukh Khan’s acting was terrible in this film? I really don’t get it. I thought it was a decent portrayal of who this guy is supposed to be – disenchanted, disappointed, frustrated, tired, self-seeking, but also (to me anyway) kinda appealing. I could actually see what Rhea and Maya saw in him. Which takes me to my next point – call me crazy, but I don’t actually see why the character of Dev is so maligned in all the reviews – he’s not a nice considerate guy, he’s really kinda mean, but I thought he was just a fallible messed-up human being, just another selfish man with a chip on his shoulder… not an evil person.

I can’t say I really LOVED anything about this film but I liked a few things. One major thing was the fact that it emphasizes the need for self-discovery and introspection, understanding who you are and what you need BEFORE you go and take on all the responsibility of marriage and children and having to put another person’s needs alongside yours. It also explored our human-ness, our weakness, our constant need to connect with someone else – I think my favourite scene in the movie is the little bit where Dev hugs the guy on the park bench near the end. Ultimately, the story of KANK is one well worth telling, but Johar just didn’t need all of the extra big-production stuff – I think the film would have fared much better if he had stripped it down some – no, a lot. It was just rather overdone.

And now that I am no longer a KANK virgin, I’m off to read Angela’s review (and the other KANK reviews I couldn’t read in depth before now).




AND A BIT ON ‘EKLAVYA’…

My friend Uzo and I saw ‘Eklavya’ at the cinema on Saturday. Although we were the hapless victims of an elaborately-orchestrated act of sabotage played out by the people in the row behind us (LOL), we really liked it. This is definitely a must-see for people who, like me, are fans of Amit-Ji. He is really, really good in this film – I fell in love with him all over again in the role of Eklavya – I want an Eklavya in my life to love me intensely and keep my scarf for years, and be all loyal and noble too (well, not really, but I kinda did when I was watching him). Saif Ali Khan (his real-life mother Sharmila Tagore also plays his mother in the film, although they actually never share the screen) is pretty hot stuff too as the tortured prince – I so wanted to hold him and ease his pain, but Vidya Balan apparently has all the luck. Sanjay Dutt has a smallish role as a policeman, but he rocks it out in style.

The performances are uniformly lovely (Boman Irani, playing the king, was really really good, and Jackie Shroff was also very good in his role as the king’s brother – and I rarely find reasons to praise him) and the chemistry between the leads (especially between Amitabh and Saif) was great. The beauty of the royal fort (where the story takes place) is something to see – not overdone in Bhansali style, but very authentic. The story is engrossing and compelling (we were at the edges of our seats more than once) and the dialogue very moving (made me wish I understood Hindi), but what stood out for me even more is the way the film was shot. It is absolutely beautiful – very creative, very stylish, very provocative, and just NICE. That’s really all I want to say about this film.

Oh, that and ‘poor, poor, poor Jimmy She(i)rgill’. You’ll see what I mean when you see the movie.

One more thing - don't go reading any of those reviews that tell you the whole story before seeing this movie (unless, of course, knowing exactly what's going to happen in a movie is your thing).