Bollywood is now crossing the much needed borderline with a new thought process followed by its young film-makers who are coming up with some fresh ideas on the screen. This is indeed a welcome change in the Indian Cinema and a wish come true for the Hindi movie lovers as they were all fed up of seeing the same old & rotten plots presented again and again before them in the name of new movies.
But ironically the new age wave is still going through a transformation phase where the ideas are no doubt new, but they still are arguably not appropriate for a full length Hindi movie which normally goes beyond 2 hours of duration. Karthik Calling Karthik exactly falls in the same category where the idea is good and the presentation is fine but there are certain facts mentioned below which completely go against the movie and disappoint.
1. It’s time we break the usual mold and come up with movies based on some new subjects but of duration much less than 2 hours as required by the plot. KCK is a perfect example of this as the movie is stretched to a great extent post intermission resulting in many unimportant scenes and boredom.
2. Following the Western trend we should surely have an Original Soundtrack for a movie comprising of few songs but what’s the use of including all those songs in an experimental kind of movie such as KCK. Here though the tracks are well composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and can be easily rated among their best work of this year. Still they could have been used in parts or in the background score as they do result in a too lengthy movie at the end which is painful.
3. Talking about the balance between the promos and the actual content, we have to be bit careful in that department. In many of the recent projects we have seen that the promos presented before the release are much more interesting and appealing than the actual movie. May be the makers are working more hard on the presentation of their projects and less on the content part. Same is the case with KCK, where the promos were really promising and attractive but the movie is not that pleasing at all. The script writers have prolonged several sequences in the film in order to make it a full length movie and in the end the double identity secret turns out to be a complete spoiler.
4. Actually it’s the climax of KCK and the revelation of the second Karthik, which proves to be the main culprit here. The concluding moments of the movie just turn it into a below average flick and ruin all the brilliant build-up successfully created by the director in the earlier reels. The writers certainly should have thought of a different mystery in the end, which could have enhanced the overall impact of an otherwise watchable movie with some good performances.
In short, KCK is a worth-watching flick before the interval and simply pathetic in its second half. It’s a perfect example of how a few awfully written concluding moments in a script can become the spoil sport for a decent project. Debutant director Vijay Lalwani, shows the sparks of a skillful director who can handle an offbeat subject competently. But in KCK he undoubtedly becomes a victim of a faulty script. The soft romance between Farhan & Deepika in the first hour is beautifully conceived by the director and is the only worth mentioning merit of the movie. I wish, he could have seen the weakness of his climax and rectified it in time. But now as its too late, so he will have to face the consequence for his wrong choices made. Musically the movie is quite rich in its soundtrack as well as in its background score. Cinematography is simply great and highly enjoyable, especially in its opening titles.On the performances scale, Farhan delivers a fabulous act of a loser. He shines brightly both as a weak, shy employee harassed by his boss and in a contrasting personality of a stunner. In fact Farhan’s act in KCK can easily be rated much better than his other two movies as an actor. Deepika Padukone surprises you with her natural act and gorgeous looks. Yet her smiling face also seems to be repetitive (reminding her previous movies) to a great extent. Farhan & Deepika form a pleasant pair on screen but you are sure going to miss the witty dialogues between the couple, prominently showcased in the promotional campaign of the movie. Ram Kapoor impresses in his role of a tough boss and Shifali Shah is good as the therapist. Rest of the cast performs at their level best.
In a nutshell, Karthik Calling Karthik is a good attempt ruined by it’s over length and unconvincing climax. The movie which was very much based on the suspense factor of the second Karthik, loses its track post intermission and fails to impress with an underwritten revelation of the secret. As a result it can neither be termed as a gripping thriller nor as a good romantic love flick. But the movie is still watchable for the dazzling act of Farhan and his breezy romance with Deepika.
Rating : 2 / 5
