I emerged from the theatre, nodding my head, and saying ’’Sh_t!’’ for the nth time. (No, it wasn’t because I had Mother Nature’s call to answer; I had already done that ’formality’ earlier). I ran my hand through my hair, looked down at the road, and again nodded my head. Amused, my dad asked, ’’What happened, son?’’ I nodded my head again.
Well, my screws may be loose in places, but I surely know that my neck is intact! So the nodding was purely because of something else - because I just could not believe how such a great opportunity had been wasted, and so the only word that came to my mind was, ’’Why...?’’
~*~
The film is set in the pre-independence period of 1947, and revolves around Vivek Oberoi, who plays the protagonist, Kisna. The British Commissioner of his village is murdered by an enraged mob, and Kisna takes it upon himself to protect the daughter of the Commissioner, Katherine (Antonia Bernath), who was his childhood friend. As a result, he has to defy his own family, including his brother and uncle, and also leave behind his fiance, Lakshmi (Isha Sharwani).
The story had everything going for it, and even as I write, I can think of 2946.583 (yes, I’ve counted them!) ways in which it could be told. Inspite of this...
...WHY...did Subhash Ghai use three writers to pen the screenplay? Kisna is a perfect example of spoilt (read confused) broth prepared by too many cooks!
The movie starts off well. The ending is also good. So then, what is the problem with Kisna, you ask? The middle portions. I’m sure Subhash Ghai was quite clear as to how he wanted to start the movie and end it, but it’s the journey in between that lacks direction (pun intended).
Also, some scenes begin to get repetitive, especially the ones involving Prince Raghuraj, which typically moves on like this - he manages to snatch Katherine, who starts shouting ’’Kisna, Kisna, Kisna...’’, and then our hero comes to save her, only for her to be kidnapped once again. Quite creative, I must say!
The film, thus, unfolds quite sluggishly, and sometimes goes into ’drag’ mode. Yet, a slow movie affords its director the luxury of developing his characters properly, setting the stage for the rest of the movie. Then...
...WHY...did Subhash Ghai not use this to his advantage? The main character of Kisna itself is not properly sketched, especially his relationship with his brother and Lakshmi. The warrior-poet ends up being more of a warrior and less of a poet. If only the wise man who had said, ’the pen is mightier than the sword’, gone to Subhash Ghai, who obviously forgot this while sketching his main character.
The supposedly extinct ’maa ki kasam’ (!) has been brought back from the dead here. I daresay that it’s over-use kills it again...fortunately!
On a more positive note (and also because my blood group is B+...!), there are some wonderfully executed scenes in Kisna, and technically, the film excels. Every scene captured by Ashok Mehta’s camera is like a larger-than-life portrait, and the movie turns out to be stunningly beautiful! If you think I’m exaggerating, see the song My Wish Comes True and you will know what I’m talking about.
The costumes play a role in giving the film its historic look, but they could have been done in a better way. The sets are lavishly done, including the one used for the cameo of Sushmita Sen (my Chemistry teacher...she’s here too!), which is straight out of Mughal-E-Azam, or say, Devdas; irritating orange replaced with beautiful blue.
The music of the film has been composed by A.R.Rahman and Ismail Darbar, but one wonders...
...WHY...did Subhash Ghai not give the complete music of the film to A.R.Rahman? Being a huge fan of Rahman, I may sound biased, but a great film needs great music, especially an epic love story like Kisna. Unfortunately, the two songs composed by Rahman stand out like shining jewels among a bunch of uneven stones.
Also, one of the reasons I went for this film was the song Hum Hain Is Pal Yahan. But to my utter disbelief, not once is it played in its entirety. I really find it weird that Ghai couldn’t accommodate this song, especially when a few others could have been easily chopped off (including the whole ’Chilman’ sequence).
Which finally brings me to my biggest question...
...WHY...Vivek Oberoi?
The only thing that Vivek brings to the character of Kisna is long hair! That’s about as far as he gets into the ’skin’ of the character! At times, you get the feeling that he’s too mesmerised by Antonia to stop gaping and start performing! Which probably explains why he looks perennially confused in the movie!
Agreed, his character is half-baked, but he still had immense scope to perform - as a man torn between his lover and his fiance, his brother and his ’maa ki kasam’!
The scene in the church when Kisna takes out his frustration, could have been the best scene in the film, but Vivek’s dialogue delivery and expressions let you down.
On the other hand, Antonia Bernath is outstanding. Vivek looks relatively plastic in front of her highly expressive performance. She makes her character believable, makes you want to protect her, to be her Kisna! Her deep blue eyes, her innocent smile, her tremendous screen presence, and perfect voice modulation steal every scene of hers, and ultimately, steal the show!
Isha Sharwani, as the other lady in Kisna’s life, must not have stood straight even once in the entire movie! She is relegated to dancing, doing yoga, acrobatics, and hanging on trees! She does all this brilliantly, but so do monkeys, don’t they? Yes, there is a little bit of acting required, but that’s left hanging in mid-air in her case.
By The Way...
Her voice is clearly dubbed by the same artiste who did it for Amisha in KNPH.
Sushmita Sen, Hrishita Bhatt, Om Puri, and the late Amrish Puri perform well in their cameo appearances. The rest of the cast is decent.
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