“Big budget films fail to deliver, while small films are thriving” – this is now being said so often that we run the risk in believing this fact! Zero, Thugs of H., Rangoon, Tubelightrepresenting big budget unsuccessful films while Badhai Ho, Stree, Andhadhun and a host of others as the small budget successful films. The notion that it’s the budget that fails the film is an obviously faulty one. But then what is going wrong with these big budget movies? That’s the theme with which I review the latest in the string of big budget flops – Kalank.
CONTENT (STORY AND SCREENPLAY)
In promoting this movie we heard Karan Johar often stating that the story of Kalank was conceived 15 years ago – I found it hard to believe…..for the story feels archived from bollywood of 30 years ago. The illegitimate son seeking revenge, an all-sacrificing wife, an upright man fighting social archaic norms and a romance whose budding requires no justification – were all elements of the films of the mid-80s and early-90s. We have loved and cherished such films and hey make no mistake, its fine to revisit that age-old formula again but at least build the narrative that belongs to the audience of today! What fails Kalank is not really a stale story, but weak screenplay and direction. The story of the film offers enough conflicts to explore – predominant ones being between Madhuri-Varun, Sanjay-Madhuri, Aditya-Sonakshi, Varun-Alia, but the writer fails to dig below the surface on any of these. In absence of this depth and exploration, the film turns into a tedious 160-minutes journey tightly clutching on visual appeal and some good songs.
On Content the film deserves not more than 1 out of 5 stars.
PERFORMANCES
Over the years I have come to realize that a great performance in a film is not just credit to the actor but to the director as well. It takes a good director to extract a great performance from a seasoned actor. Kalank boasts of a stellar star cast, but for none of them Kalank would be a performance they would be remembered for.
As lead pair, Varun and Alia are completely out of depths performing characters which are way out of their reach. You don’t see the seething anger and hurt you would expect of a man who has been marginalized by his family and society, and in Alia fails to generate empathy one would feel for a woman who is stuck in a love-less and purpose-less existence. They are both promising actors but Kalank proves that both of themhave a long way to go to master their craft. Aditya Roy Kapoor is charming and a good fit as a decent, upright loving husband.
As for Madhuri, Sonakshi & Sanjay Dutt – I fail to understand why any of them agreed to perform their respective roles in Kalank. Sonakshi Sinha delivers on the brief but it’s a very small sketchy brief to begin with. Sanjay Dutt, unfortunately, looks lost and unconvincing in a role that at best needed an extra! Lastly, Madhuri Dixit – probably the only redeeming factor amongst all the actors in the film. She fits her character well, delivers a decent performance and as always charms you with a spell binding dance. However there is just too little screen time offered to her. Yes, “Tabaah” offers some high points to cherish but gone are the days that one would be content by watching a powerhouse performer like her deliver just a couple of great dances in a film….she needs to do roles that offer her greater screen time and an opportunity to tap into her acting prowess.
On Performances I would rate the film 1.5 out of 5.0.
OTHER TECHNICAL ASPECTS
The film boasts of some good Music, the best ones being the title track, Pardesia and Tabaah. In the interest of time, “First Class” & “Aira Gaira” could easily have been dropped – neither the most melodious numbers, nor did they fit the screenplay well.
The cinematography is impressive however I would seriously question the Art Direction – someone seems to have confused a “period film” for a “fantasy film”. The sets and visuals are impressive but so out of place that instead of adding to the feel of the film, they tend to negate it. For instance, in a particularly dramatic scence where one is supposed to feel sad for the characters in the scene, I couldn’t hold back a laugh totally distracted by the out of place backdrop and the sets. Totally acceptable if you base the film in 5th century Atlantis not 1940’s Lahore!
Thanks to the redeeming features of music and cinematography, on technical aspects the film would score 2.5 out of 5.0.
To sum up, I have two insights to share.
Firstly, unlike many people I did not feel that the film was inspired from Bhansali-style of filmmaking. There is a level of realism that exists even in a Bhanasali-world. To me this seemed to be a Bahubali inspired backdrop mounted unfortunately for a period film! Guys, don’t tear down the sets, just get a historical-fantasy script and shoot it on the same sets…it might make for a more appropriate film….and if the script is good, who knows, you may have a winner at hand.
Secondly – rounding back to my opening remark. Success or failure of the film has nothing to do with the budget. Stories need to be told at a price that they require to tell them. Focus on the screenplay and audience will come! Unfortunately, it seems that budgets are decided regardless of the story and once a big budget is signed off, everything but the story & screenplay takes priority.
On that note, I conclude 2.0 out of 5.0 stars for Kalank.
