Newsforall.com

Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna

Too long. Too tedious. And strangely plastic. No, this time, Karan Johar seems to have got the formula somewhat skewed. For unlike his earlier successful celluloid soap operas, the audience doesn’t get to shed any real tears even though the protagonists keep crying. In all his earlier ventures, the characters would hardly need the tissues despite the heartbreak, heartache, heartburn. It was the viewer who'd do all the crying, sighing and tear jerking 'coz Shah Rukh chose to laugh while he died, Hrithik sashayed to bring his broken family together and Kajol played basketball to drive her dilemma - Salman or Shah Rukh - away. Naturally, we the aam janata couldn’t bear the agony of these bravehearts and broke down copiously, while the box office jingled. But this time round, the rona-dhona becomes somebody else's business, the jolly good fella bits seem to be in short supply and the aam janata ends up feeling gypped. Primarily because it doesn’t know why Rani relentlessly sobs and Shah Rukh goes gruff-gruff and all those designer marriages suck...

Okay, we know that Shah Rukh’s angry because he's got a perpetual limp, he can’t play football, his wife’s (Preity Zinta) more successful than him and someone’s told him his pout looks sexy. But is that reason enough to fall in love with a wannabe bride (Rani) he meets on a bench one New Yorky afternoon as she ruminates on this whole marriage business and the grand mohabbat myths? And is that reason enough to pout permanently in the film as he goes through the entire gamut of incompatibility, infidelity, separation and reunion, barking down on anybody who happens to cross his path. Even his bechara beta!

Unconvincing again are the reasons behind Rani’s drift. All that hubby Abhishek demands from her is a bit of passion in bed, some rock-and-roll in dad’s (Amitabh) rocking party and a bit of bonhomie in their day-to-day life. Is that asking for too much from a roz-roz-morose Miss?

So, on the one hand you have a weak foundation to the extra-marital affair between Shah Rukh Khan and Rani, and on the other, you have a weird reason that brings them together. The duo befriend each other to play marriage counsellor to each other, discussing books and techniques on ‘how to save your shaadi and stay happy forever’. And guess what? They end up breaking their marriages and biting into cold TV dinners by themselves.

If the film holds, it’s because of the few dramatic moments that manage to touch you, a pretty New York backdrop and some fine chemistry between that father-son duo again. Amitabh and Abhishek once again create magic when they are together, even as the big daddy of Bollywood creates one of the most flamboyant playboys on the desi screen. Catch his throwaway lines and you’d realise Hugh Heffner’s got competition. Unfortunately, they have very little screen time together. As for Preity, now what’s she doing in a walk-on part that seems a pale shadow of Kal Ho Na Ho?

Nope! When it comes to infidelity, Arth still remains the last word in Bollywood. And Silsila the most silken.

KANK’ is a film that can often be deceptively overwhelming with it’s opulence and chic designer labels, but one that still makes you connect with the director’s logic--that love can be nasty, brutish and convenient, just like marriage. It’s a logic that works really well in ‘KANK’ with its strong humour undertone and the cheery assessment of contemporary relationships. In terms of sheer maturity of content, ‘KANK’ is definitely KJ’s departure.

Reviews