The successful jodi of Farhan Akhtar-Ritesh Sidhwani is back. Their banner have consistently come up with fine qualitative films like Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya, Don, Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd, ‘Rock On!!’ and Luck By Chance. Hence, the expectations from their next, Karthik Calling Karthik were naturally high. However, the mixed and negative reviews that appeared in the last 24 hours did upset me a bit. However, all my disappointment went out of the window after watching the film. Karthik Calling Karthik is a wonderful, innovative flick which is stylishly presented and most importantly, has a completely unpredictable suspense!
The story of the movie: Karthik (Farhan Akhtar) lives in Mumbai alone. Although he’s a topper as a student, he is damn shy, introvert and not-so-confident which never allowed him to rise higher professionally. His boss (Ram Kapoor) ill-treats him every day. He’s in love with Shonali (Deepika Padukone) who works in office since years but he never gets the courage to go and say even ‘Hi’ to her. His life is thus miserable. One fine early morning, he receives a call from, believe it or not, none other than himself! The caller, who also claimed to be Karthik, becomes his guide, mentor and his friend. He gives him the push to stand and face the world bravely. Slowly, thanks to the caller, Karthik’s life takes a bright turn. He also finds Shonali getting drawn towards him. Everything is going perfect. But at this point, problem arises in Karthik’s life.
Karthik Calling Karthik hooks you even before the first scene with the innovative presentation of titles. And as soon the scenes start rolling, we immediately get drawn to ‘loser life’ of Karthik. Director Vijay Lalwani allots adequate screen time to show Karthik and his ‘loser’ attitude. Obviously, things brighten up when Karthik gets the mysterious call for the first time. Things get even better when Karthik turns confident and shows everyone around his worth. Watch out here for the scene when he gets back to his boss-it was brilliant and easily the best part in the 1st half! The Farhan-Deepika love story was sweet and the goings-on, their conversations and Deepika’s past bad experiences seemed very real.
The post-interval portions were a little dry and one begins to wonder whether the film is going off-track. But it’s at this juncture that the whole mystery gets unveiled and it comes like a bolt from the blue. I guarantee that no one would be able to guess the suspense fully! And it’s because of this unpredictability factor that Karthik Calling Karthik works big big time! The climax came sudden but seemed totally justified!
This is a complete Farhan Akhtar film. He carries most of the film on his shoulders and comes out with flying colours. He amazes by the way he plays the role of a shy guy and later of a confident youth so effortlessly. First Rock On followed by Luck By Chance and now Karthik Calling Karthik-in each film he has scored! Great going FA!
Deepika Padukone like everytime looks charming and gives a confident and natural performance. Nice to see that she’ll be seen in 4 more films in the next 12 months! Ram Kapoor is simply amazing! He should shift base to films rather than anchoring Swayamvar seasons! Vipin Sharma as the landlord was funny. Vivaan Bhatena as Ashish was perfect in his supporting role. Shifaali Shah (why the hell has Shefali Shah changed her name’s spelling?) was awesome as the psychiatrist. Others did a good job too.
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music is breezy. Uff Teri Ada is already a sensation and is a treat to watch in the film too. Hey Ya is nicely placed and the title song that comes during the opening credits was brilliant! Midivial Punditz and Karsh Kale’s background score was lilting. Sanu Varghese’s cinematography was eye-catching especially in the Kerela scenes. Babylon Fonseca’s background score was effective. Aarti Bajaj’s editing was slick.
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