After all the noise, KITES arrives! I watched it yesterday, with lots of expectations. I must say, It did not work for me! It might become a Box-Office Hit, but I am not a fan of this movie, for sure!
Warning: Review contains spoilers
There are lots of thoughts to share.First of all, KITES reminds of the following movies:
The boy-girl-and-girls’-rich-fiancee scenes remind of Titanic
Again the-seperation-anxiety scene also reminds of a similar scene from Titanic.
The Hindi-boy-in-Spanish-family scene reminds of My Big Fat Greek Wedding
The love-through-langauge-barrier scenes remind of Ek Duje Ke Liye
And that’s not all. In the last scene, when Hrithik jumps into ocean from a cliff, people in the theater started singing Beera, Beera from Raavan. That was hillarious:)
Conclusion, KITES lack originality.
Hrithik’s dance in FIRE reminds of his Coke ad. But it is still very enjoyable. In fact, this dance is the sole factor of KITES which is unanimously applauded, by critics as well as fans.
The dialogues are memorable for their inaneness. e.g. Main ullu ki patthi hoon! Wow!
The so called’chemistry’ between the lead pair is not there at all! Agree that as actors, HR & Mori look very comfortable in each other’s arms, kiss passionately and all, but as characters, J & Natasha fail to bring audience into their love story.
Look at Jaane Tu. By the time Kahin To Hogi Woh song starts, we feel so much for Jai and Aditi. we are able to believe in their love!
The script is poorly written. It is difficult to identify with the character J. He is shown as an Indian who works in Las Vegas. How common is that? Then he is shown as someone who is so noble and so good. Then why would such a person do illegal jobs?
So, basically the movie fails in creating believable characters, it fails in writing department.
But then a HR movie is never about a good story or good script! A Hrithik Roshan movie should be watched for performances. Ok, so you start looking for them.
Hrithik’s acting is different. I did not enjoy it so much. But he has amazing screen presence. He looks fabulous, dances amazingly. So, in short, he is only reason to watch this movie.
Barabara looks ok, acts ok. Definitely not the best actress as claimed by Hrithik. She also looks old for her character. Her character, Natasha, would be more believable if a younger actress was chosen. Someone in teens or in early twenties.
Nicholas Brown who plays Tony is irritating. And he gets ample amount of screen time!
Instead of him if Kabir Bedi would have played the villain, it would be more watchable, Kabir is so handsome!
The movie would have still worked if Kangana had more substantial role. She is a great actor and has the power to make the audience hate her, thereby adding to the chemistry of the lead pair. But, alas! it was not to happen!
In a Hrithik Roshan movie, you need at least one actor who can match Hrithik’s acting skills and his screen presence. Look at his previous films, he was supported by some very good actors:
Amisha Patel, Anupam Kher in KHPH
Priety Zinta in Koi Mil Gaya, Mission Kashmir & Lakshya
Kareena Kapoor in K3G
Naseerudding Shah in Krrish
Ash, Niketan Dheer, Illa Arun in JA
Even in D: 2, Abhishek was not that bad. His subdued acting was still better than this Tony & co.!
In conclusion, KITES has neither performances nor great plot!
It is neither innocent like Jaane Tu / Ek Duje Ke Liye nor is it a crime based love story like Satya or Gangster.
It is, if at all, a KHICHADI of every genre and soul of none!
Well, HR fans can still watch the movie for him, but then watch it on DVD, why spend 500 Rs. in theater? Not worth the price.
Well, maybe the movie goes wrong in terms of its expectations. We watch it as a Hindi movie and try to identify with J as an Indian boy. There is nothing Indian about J other than his language. Maybe it should be watched as a Hollywood movie catering to foreign audience in America. Like Green Card or My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Probably, the english version of KITES is better. But. Who will wait for that now?
One thing is sure, KITES makes an impact. It extracts a strong reaction from the viewer. You either love it to the core or you hate it completely. So it could be a Super-Hit in spite of its flaws(like Dhoom-2) or it could be a Super-Flop!(like Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon)
Rating: 1.5 / 5(1 for Hrithik’s screen presence and 0.5 for his dance.)
Verdict: More likely to Super-Flop.