I saw KAAL yesterday. I am usually on my backfoot while watching movies of new directors - they usually get too ambitious with their virgin venture and try to do too many things in the first go. Added to it was the fact that the other movie that I had taken along with KAAL to watch, FAMILY was a really bad letdown for me.
But KAAL fared much better, at least for me. The movie is not without its set of goofups, but overall it was a pretty decent effort from a group of people who are not very much renowned for what they do.
Soham - the director. It was his first venture, but I read that he has worked under Karan Johar and RGV. You see traces of both their styles in the movie. Hes done a pretty decent job.
Let me just briefly run through the cast.
John Abraham has never been known for his acting skills, he usually tries to make up for what his face lacks with his body. This movie has been somewhat of a refreshing change, though its not that he has given a great performance. The role in which he was placed didnt need him to stretch his limited skillsets, and he was worked well within his limits.
Vivek is a pretty fine actor. I thought I found him taking pieces off SRK’s acting book in the movie, but it still sums up to a job pretty well done.
Kudos to Ajay. Im sure many people will tell that hes getting stereotyped. The same grim dialogues and looks. But just imagine anyone else who could have done this role better. I dont think so. Its not just Ajay’s acting alone. His character suited the appearances and aura that he carries. Casting him for this role was well thought out and executed.
The girls Lara and Esha were disappointing though. For one thing, they were made to run around the jungle dressed in skimpy clothes as if they were on their way to a dance club, for another their roles didnt have anything to offer. Would have been better if one of the girls had a meatier role with more character and participation.
The supporting cast were ok - nothing exceptional.
Now for the plot - I guess everyone should be knowing that by now, but still....
John Abraham and his wife Esha work for National Geographic and are sent to Orbit National Park to investigate some strange deaths happening there, reportedly by a man-eater tiger.
Vivek Oberoi, Lara and two friends Kushal Punjabi and Vishal Malhotra are on their way to a farm house to spend vacations but they decide to visit the park instead.
They meet John and Esha enroute and everyone reaches the Orbit. Deaths start happening from the next day onwards and it becomes pretty evident that its no tiger thats doing the job. The movie proceeds with subtle clues being dropped to look like Vivek could be a potential candidate for the murderer. And John also ends up thinking so.
In the meantime they have an encounter with three tigers, but the tigers run off when Ajay enters the scene. Now I liked this scene pretty well, for the impact and the general feel. Ajay, its shown is a villager who lives nearby and knows the jungle and jungle creatures inside out. He leaves with warning not to break rules and that he wont be around to save them everytime they do so.
In the end we have the group trying to flee the jungle and again they run into Ajay while at a dead end. He decides to help them when they offer him money. Inspite of him being around one of Vivek’s friend and Esha die.
And then comes the revelation. Ajay is a ghost. And he is the reason behind the deaths. The remaining three - John, Vivek and Lara manage to barely escape him and make it out of the jungle alive.
Two subtle things I liked in the story line - it was something I thought when my friend asked that if Ajay wanted to kill them all, why did he save them from the tigers in the first place? After saving them Ajay says - creatures of the jungle dont kill their prey immediately - they play with them..see how much they can run, how far they will go to save themselves - and when they get tired of the game, they just kill them. Its just what Ajay does with them all through the movie. Nicely said.
The other thing was again a dialogue during that frameshot itself - Ajay warns them not to break the rules of the jungle and place themselves in danger again - he said he might not be able to help them again when they do that. And in the movie too each person who gets killed dies because they ignore the rules and break them. And Ajay’s spirit is basically the punisher of those who break rules. So Ajay was essentially warning them about himself.
The revelation that Ajay is a spirit is well portrayed in a mellowed down and alarmingly calm fashion. There is no heavy background scores during the scene and no hefty dialogues. In fact Ajay doesnt know at that time that they have understood who he is.
Having said all this, the story line is not without holes where logic leaks out. One is the reaction and expressions seeing friends die in front of their eyes. It was really poor. The sequential flow was lacking. You see vishal dying in front of their eyes and everyone is yelling and screaming and all. 2 minutes later they are walking as calmly through the jungle as if they are on an evening stroll down the beach. Poor editing.
And after Ajay is exposed as the spirit, the director is not completely sure about how to proceed. So they distort his face in the screen and make him yell and shout. Wasnt necessary. Its more spine-chilling to see a calm and ice-cold ghost than to see one that is yelling itself sore.
Also if they had added more essence into who was the murderer so that we would start doubting more characters than Vivek and, at times, John it would have been even better. One of the girls could have been a good choice. Their characters were not very big anyways and hence they had room and time for development in that direction if they wanted.
I wonder how many folks had guessed it was Ajay? Not blindly - but with some reasons to back it up. I did think while watching the movie, why Ajay was trying to be the good Samaritan and helping them..but before I could strengthen my doubts on him, they showed the scene where John pays him handsomely for helping them out of the jungle and that put the doubt out of my mind. You rarely expect ghosts to take money.
Hey and also..i liked the cinematography and background scores.
So thats it...bottom line is I liked KAAL...but dont take my word for it..cause I have been told many times that my tastes are weird :)