KANK - Much Ado about Nothing. Review on Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna

Much Ado about Nothing - KANK

Ok. So this is one over critiqued film There are already 272 reviews of this film on this site and this is No. 273. Nevertheless, here goes…

First the positives.

Production Values…fabulous. The film is shot in New York and the place has never looked this beautiful in any film. The costumes..to die for. So what if the two main protagonists in the film are school teachers. The hero wears Burberry and the heroine wears Prada. Go figure.

Music…Great. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have explored a lot of different genres in this film. So there is the haunting Sufi-esqe Mitwa by Shankar mahadevan, the two foot tapping Bhangra pop/rock n roll numbers and a nice,but fairly insipid title number. All in all, a definite contender for Best Music at the Filmfare awards.

Amitabh Bachchan.. amazing. This is one actor I like now much more than I did when he was a good looking AYM( that’s angry young man for all you uneducated types!!). He is terrific as Sam..the dirty old man with his heart in the right place. Flamboyant but never loud, nice but never sappy. What bets he bags all the Best Supporting Actor awards this year.

Acting.. Preity Zinta, in a really interesting role. She manages to bring out the nuances of the character inspite of the short on screen time. A restrained performance delivered with a certain style. Also Rani M. who is her usual competent self. She rarely goes wrong in any film..and in this film too she has put in a good performance.

And finally , the Story. Its not original and its been told more honestly before (anyone seen ARTH?) but KANK tells it with a certain flair and style that is different and interesting. Also, I think, thought provoking. It is also a brave attempt by Karan Johar to make a film on a topic like infidelity which may not sit too well with the public and may bomb at the box office.

So, what are the negatives? Well the biggest negative of the film is..Shah Rukh Khan ! This probably will not go down too well with SRK fans but really, he was a huge disappointment. The character of Dev is a well etched, well thought out one.. a complex character with shades of grey, sarcastic, biting but with a wicked sense of humour, a great big chip on his shoulder(not to mention the limp), given to pathos and sometimes flowery romance. In short, all the ingredients neccessary to make it a memorable role. And all Mr. SRK could do was a lot of mouth twisting and face contorting and hand gesturing and shoulder shrugging. Really, I wish someone would tell him to get over his mannerisms. Granted, the man has personality but Actor he is NOT.

The other big negative is ...surprise..the Story! Why is this a negative when I have just put this down as a positive? Well it is a story well told and it is a brave attempt, but why does Karan Johar feel the need to justify an illicit affair. He spends two and a half hours showing the build up of the Great Illicit Affair, replete with stirring dialogues, copious tears, angst filled looks, songs sung in leaf strewn lawns at sunset, and ofcourse the grand finale .. the bedroom scene, lots of tears( why, pray?), twining limbs, flickering flames and loud music. And then spends half an hour trying to balance the scale. But what is most disappiointing is that Karan Johar could not resist the happy ending .. or the several happy endings in this case. So, SRK gets Rani, Abhishek gets a new wife( and still stays

best friends with first wife Rani!!), Preity has a hot romance (and proposal) going with her boss Arjun Rampal and all is well in the golden world of KANK.