Well my review is for the movie and not for the message it gives or our society accepting this or that or other bla bla...
I feel that KANK is one well made movie and it can certainly boast of the best performances by a great star cast and excellent music. But what stands out as the real strength of the movie is the direction. Karan Johar has proved now beyond doubt that he is a thinking and innovative director unlike most of our current directors who go the cliched way while trying to be safe with our very strange Indian audience.
Well the good thing about the movie is that every thing looks nice whether its the actors or the locations. All actors ( except the repetative and overacting Kiron Kher ) look pretty well suited for their roles. Whether its the aged Amitabh with his sexy Sam approach, the pretty girls he gets along with or king Khan himself, the dressing is immaculate. While Preity Zinta looks ravishing, Rani portrays the sweet and charming look.
The performances have been extracted out well from the highly rated star cast. Abhishek does his job without slightest of over acting, which actors are prone to when acting in big banner films. SRK’s performance may seem little overacted upon but overall he delivers what he is capable of and his timing for dialogues is very good. The scene in which he is taking his frustation out on the fat fellow and his kid sitting next to SRK shows how perfect king khan is while delivering his lines.
Preity performs her character with such grace and ease that it seemed as if she is actually the great fashion diva from New York. She proved that behind a good director she can control her screen presence unlike in films like Salaam Namaste. Rani though faced with a tough challenge to charm the audiences inspite of her overcomplex thinking character, manages to steal the show. And her chemistry with SRK goes well. Since the first scene in which both meet, one can feel there is something between them. And that proves how well Karan Johar has evolved from his previous films like K3G where the chemistry was forced between SRK and Kajol. SRK and Rani look a very good pair and the song in which its blue all over while they fall in love completely is a gem to watch. Very hardly does one get to feel the romance that is been shown for an onscreen couple and in this case I felt spellbound by the music and the chemistry between the 2 great actors. It was as if one could feel that they are in love actually.
Well any good film needs humor to keep the audience interested and this film has all it takes in that area. The way SRK handles his kid and the scenes in which Rani and SRK’s intentions to win back their spouse’s goes astray are a gem to watch. Comedy should not be forced loudly onto the audiences but is a matter a timing and facial expressions as proved by the cast of this film. The scene in which the geeky guy listens to Rani and SRK enacting in the bed store is such a great amusement. And so is the scene in which there’s confusion when Rani and SRK are trying to find out Preity and Abhishek in their houses due to confusion while preity defends her son and Abhishek his Dad.
Now for the story. Well I feel that the mesage that Amitabh gives to Rani while he breathing his last is what is crucial here. If one is not happy with someone, then there’s no point trying over and over again. Its not a big deal to separate out and this movie’s story tries to support the obvious- "live with someone whom u love, not with someone cos he/she is a neccesity". Though Karan had to part Rani and SRK for 3 years to make it a logical end for all types of audiences.
Now for the music, well its simply very suitable for the movie and songs are very pleasant to listen to. Mitwa, tumhi dekho naa and Party tonight are really good. The suprise John Abraham was a great idea for the refreshment of female audiences. The background score too is very prefect w.r.t the situations in the movie.
Well there are cons in the movie as well. Firstly its the so called chandigarh - Kiron Kher. She is making a habit of overplaying her part trying to deliver dialogues too cleanly out of her mouth rather than applying natural instincts. I donno if directors are not paying attention to her or whatever is the reason but someone’s got to control her.. Now for another very unexpected let down of the movie. Well its the wasted Big B. His presence in the movie doesnt really impact too many things. And also he is so so important that we as audiences feel he can deliver a lot more.
Another let down is that some scenes are little draggy and Rani’s complex state of mind which makes her feel irritated all the time when she is with Abhishek is not clear. Her behaviour isnt too clear and that makes some sections of audiences feel that story is forced.
Well overall the film is a gem and a great mixture of talented performances and balanced direction. I feel KANK , inspite of all criticism it is drawing from some types of audiences is a great work from KJo and a very good step in the direction of true and practical Indian Cinema.