Kal Kissne Dekha (KKD) is the first Bollywood release after the conclusive end to the producer – multiplex strike. A lot was expected from it, especially Vashu Bhagnani, who has launched his son Jackky with this college caper. Bhagnani has given number of hits with all “Number 1” titles. But his over-indulgence with his son has resulted in the viewers under-indulging in the movie.
Love stories are the best launching vehicle for any young debutant. Viewers’ sympathies lie with the hero heroine. Remember Sunny Amrita starrer Betaab or Kumar Vijayta starrer Love Story. Don’t forget the recent one of Hrithik – Amisha starrer Kaho Na Pyaar Hai. These love stories took the viewers along with the narrative thereby taking the country by storm. They had the fresh look and the viewer was involved.
KKD had no other release along with it to give it any competition. Plus it is the first movie coming to the theaters after nearly two months of hiatus. The subject too is young and fun – campus romance. Plus this is summer time and the movie is youth-oriented. The viewer should be rushing to the theaters to compensate for lack of entertainment. Alas, this did not happen and that is a bit surprising and unfortunate too.
KKD also has an interesting title probably spelt due to numerology. So, we have Kal Kissne Dekha (The Kiss Saw Tomorrow) instead of Kal Kisne Dekha (Who Has Seen Tomorrow). That extra ‘s’ was to make the movie a success. Unfortunately the extra ‘s’ is an ass. It doesn’t make any difference except misleading the viewer that there would be wholesome kissing scenes between the young pair. Alas it is not so barring one.
Science capers don’t find active favor with Bolly viewers barring Hrithik’s Koi Mil Gaya. Plus KKD has a familiar subject of looking into the past/future that has already dealt with in 8x10 Tasveer and Aa Dekhen Zara (ADZ). Both movies did average business, in other words FLOP. Akshay’s 8x10 Tasveer had solid two months to prove its worth but it fell flat right from day one. It was the last major release before the strike.
Neil Nitin Mukesh’s ADZ met with the same fate although it too had good time and no major releases to eat into its profits. KKD studiously follows the former two releases in being termed an average release. It remains to be seen if it can improve on its performance in the first week. But the word of mouth is not strong.
Coming to the movie proper, Nihal Singh (Jackky Bhagnani) from Chandigarh is a science aficionado. He is extremely intelligent and dreams of gaining admission in the best science college. His dream comes true in a Mumbai college. (And the viewers’ dream ends here.) His scientific endeavors are overtaken by usual college song and dance and blah blah.
He meets Meesha (Vaishali Desai), who is quite an arrogant bitch. As Nihal has the ability to look into future (supernatural powers – YAWN!), he senses Meesha’s life is in danger and saves her. Expectedly love develops. And so does undue attention from the anti-social elements. The film takes a downward slope from here on.
As terrorism has become a hot favourite with the directors, can it leave KKD untouched? So, we have an unnecessary intrusion in the form of Professor Siddharth Verma (Rishi Kapoor), who is the warden. But ‘surprisingly’, he is planting bombs. OMG! Couldn’t they think of anything more original? It doesn’t even make for a proper surprise, shock or suspense element.
Riteish Deshmukh as a bumbling don can raise viewers’ hackles. Archana Puran Singh fills the shoes of Nihal’s mother. There is Juhi Chawla, Lara Dutta, Sunjay Dutt and Abhishek Bachchan in blink-and-miss roles. Azharuddin and Rubina Ali of SlumdogMillionaire fame are also there. Probably Vashu was not confident of the movie so he added these ‘attractions’ for safety.
Vaishali is a leggy lass. She will do well if she carefully selects her future projects. Jackky is a cute dude landing with a dud that has both present and the future imperfect.
The songs are strictly OK. This is one department they should have worked harder. The film has been extensively shot in South Africa and the locales are simply exotic.
Suffice it to say the movie is all shadow with no substance or soul. Dear Vashu, everyday is not a Sunday (sorry, Friday!) If you could do marvel with others’ careers and produce blockbusters, sadly the same is not repeated here. Makes one think Vashu ne kya dekha? Instead of making his son look into the future, Vashu should have looked into this film’s future. He should consult a better astrologer next time.
No amounts of publicity or gimmicks make a bad product work. If a product has to succeed, it will despite it being made poorly, lacking finesse or funds. Ultimately viewers are the best judge. They have rejected the movie. They say, humne nahin dekha. Period.