Kambakkht Ishq is a product of the David Dhawan school of films. Obviously there is not a shred of logic … most characters behave like completely different people in different scenes … the Director rapidly jumps from one scene to another, in a desperate attempt to distract viewers from realising the absence of a plot.
But is all lost? Well, No - the one big plus is that, Akshay is back! The star infuses a manic energy . makes the most outlandish gags enjoyable and is the only largely consistent character in this otherwise inconsistent movie. Check his shower scene and subsequent dialogue with his neighbours - the scene in which he is operated on - the scene where he is ‘frisked’ by security at the airport - there are many such scenes, which only come alive because of Akshay. After getting lost doing serious in tasveer, and being too rustic in China - Akshay is finally back, and his legion of fans will be delighted to know this.
But to begin at the beginning … Kambakkht Ishq is a boy meets girl, in this case man meets woman, hate each other from scene 1 onwards, have a series of Tom and Jerry type fights and then magically get together in the last scene. Throw in some good songs, throw in some bad songs which serve as a pretext for scantily clad women to gyrate senselessly in the back ground, throw in some senseless cameos by well-past-their-due-date Hollywood stars, and that just about describes all there is to Kambakkht Ishq.
Coming to specifics, this is debutant director Sabbir Khan’s first outing and it must be said that if they had run an end credit naming David Dhawan as the Director, everybody would have completely believed it. Not sure if it sounds like one, but that is a compliment.
As has been said earlier, Akshay is completely in his element and he’s this movies big plus point. Kareena has an inconsistently written part, and cannot rise above the script. Kiron Kher, Boman Irani are good in their brief scenes. Javed Jaffrey, Aftab Shivdasani, Amrita Arora are ok. Vindu Dara Singh grates on the nerves.
On the technical side, the camera work is great and manages to capture the Hollywood gloss quite well. The locations have also been well chosen, and for those familiar with English serials - the Grey’s Anatomy hospital, the Entourage home, etc will be recognisable. The writing, credited to a team of four - is largely good in the first half where they have a gag unfolding every minute. Anu Malik’s music also works quite well - you will not be reaching for the CD a year from today, but you will catch yourself humming the tunes in the coming weeks.
All in all, Kambakkht Ishq is an illogical, senseless movie where the glossy images and gags, try, and largely succeed in act as a substitute for a plot. If you want an escape from your work stress and / or if you are an Akshay Kumar fan - then this movie may work for you. But if you even vaguely expect a movie to be logical - then stay away from this one.