KANKed :-)

After all the hype and reviews, I was not so keen to watch KANK. But then with no specific job in hands, we thought we will just make it to Karan's controversial film.

The film as a whole didn’t impress me. Karan just sugar coated the bitter pill. Film seemed to be too influenced with Hollywood theories. Even the hard core SRK fans {like me} found it difficult to enjoy the film. I just describe that film as “pot of glassy-eyed relationships”. I felt the director fumbling about pairing the characters at the end of the film. KANK gang deals with infidelity, with broken marriages standing in the way of true love; Karan has manufactured dreams in wonderful abundance, right from the Kuch Kuch Hota Hai to Kal Ho Naa Ho. Tragically, he too seems struck by the 'Substance Syndrome'. Only thing that appealed to me in this film was the usual Johar’s glitzy setting, sings and star heavy direction.

I think the story needs no explaination. It is already cluttered. Let me not make it any more..

About the characters in the movie…..

Shahrukh-An angry man too busy grumbling about his limp to care about his marriage.

Preity Zinta- echoes Bollywood cliché of career women being ruthless and uncaring. Zinta has barely a walk-on part in the film, her appearances pretty much restricted to the loud and showy songs.

Abhishek {Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh- The only reason I sat there for full 3 hours}- plays a cad, a clubbing bling-lover completely smitten by his wife, who really doesn't care. It's a tricky role, and Abhi does impressively with a nuanced performance showing admirable restraint, again despite the words. His Rishi {Name of the Character} manages to come off both relatable and sensitive.

Rani - is laden with flaky dialogues that most actresses would balk at, the actress manages to provide a realistic character, as far as her words allow.

Despite the bad handling, the pained acting, fractured narrative and twisty plot, there are moments where you grin. But, in a film dragging close to four hours and making you feel each minute, we deserve way more smiles per hour. It would have been much better if Rani and Preity exchanged their roles. Can't imagine SRK and Rani doing negative roles. :-(

And, for all the hype about Bollywood heading into a 'bold' direction, KANK ends up being a lot of oversight with barely any insight. No motivations are explained, no headway made.