A 'KALANK' on Bollywood's progress

Kalank - A fan's view

Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Dutt, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Sonakshi Sinha and Aditya Roy Kapur. When I saw the first look posters on March 7^th, the first thought that sprung to mind was blockbuster. There were revelations of cameos by Kriti Sanon and Kiara Advani, both relatively big names to further heighten my expectations. This was going to be Bollywood’s reply to Bahubali, what could possibly go wrong?

Well, after watching the movie it seems there’s a lot that could go wrong and it did. Best described by the words of Anupama Chopra, “This is a Sanjay Leela Bhansali film, not directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali”. Bhansali is known for his grandiose sets with dazzling clothes and beautiful locations. All these are brilliant ingredients if you know the right proportions to add. That balance is what seemed to be missing in this film directed by Abhishek Verman. The sets and VFX, attempting to paint a grand image, come across as artificial. In one particular scene where stacks of newspapers are being burnt, the fire seems to be emanating only from the top line of the papers. The VFX used with the bull is weird too and has the bull jumping up and down at abnormal angles.

The director also doesn’t make optimal use of the talent he has at his disposal. There is a mix of two of the biggest stars from years gone by and a couple of modern Bollywood’s most celebrated actors. Instead of exploiting this fountain of talent, it seems as though the director himself is in awe and isn’t sure what to do. Sanjay Dutt, a man who has played a number of characters in his life, is given a role of a downtrodden old man without much substance. Madhuri is not given an adequate chance to showcase her flair and struggles to engage the audience in the moments that she is on screen. Sonakshi tries her best but comes across as slightly stone-faced characters and her character seems to have a slightly bizarre journey. Alia Bhatt, arguably the finest actor in today’s generation, tries her best to pull the film along but she too isn’t at her fluent best and struggles to inspire. Aditya Roy Kapur gives one of his better performances, but his character comes across as slightly one-dimensional and lacking a considerable story arc.

All is not gloomy for the star cast though, as Varun Dhawan puts in one of his better acting performances in the film. He is about the only character whose emotional journey I was interested in and he seemed to find the right balance of fire and vulnerability in his character.

The hero of most acclaimed movies in Bollywood over the last 24 months has been the writing and that should’ve been the case here. The basic underlying plotline of love and revenge is an intriguing one and could have made for a captivating storyline on its own, but the addition of a lot of side stories and the use of Partition as the time frame, takes away from the main story arc. The movie comes across as a mashup of a number of different classics from over the years with scenes that replicate those from Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar as well as Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and even Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

Overall, despite a few bright spots, most of all Varun Dhawan, the film is a major let-down and definitely doesn’t fulfill all the hope and hype that preceded it. The situation is best captured by Sonakshi’s character in the movie who said, “Umeed sirf intezar karati hai ... sachai nahi badalti” and the ‘sachai’ is not a very promising one.

- AHAAN GUPTA