LadKI – the Woman & LadKA – the Man.
Women in recent times have made their mark in the society where they are no longer seen as typical housewives managing household chores but they have matched the capabilities of men in all fields, elevated their status and positioned themselves as equivalent to men.
This is a known fact and we all can share success stories of couples or single parents who have played the role of both father and mother in bringing up their children. Circumstances and the mere need to make both ends meet have led many couples to share their responsibilities, complement each other and move ahead in life.
‘Ki & Ka’ is a failed attempt to display the key challenges of marriage or to even deliver the message it intended for the audience in the first place.
Story: Kia(Kareena) a Marketing Manager at Marico and Kabir Bansal(Arjun Kapoor), the only son of an established Real Estate Developer in Delhi, happen to meet on a flight. Kia is raised by a single mother(Swaroop Sampat) while Kabir by a single father(Rajit Kapur). A sobbing Kabir shares with Kia how much he misses his mother and wants to live his mother’s life. Unconvinced? Well, Kabir and Kia also share the same birth date – April 15. Kabir has done MBA from IIM and is not interested in his father’s business. Kabir and Kia continue to date and after a formal proposal from Kabir, get married. Kia is three years elder to Kabir, with eyes on her career growth, and clarity on her goals. She accepts Kabir as a husband who wants to play the role of - a dedicated housewife and she being the breadwinner. Kia climbs the ladder and becomes the Vice President. Curious journalists wish to explore the reason behind her success and she dedicates it to her loving husband who is now targeted for an interview. His strange but rational views are well accepted by the masses and thus generate huge interest resulting in unexpected fame earning him the title of ‘dream husband’. He is then invited for Inspirational Talk Shows, Cookery Classes, roped in to advertise a product of his wife’s company and also catches the attention of Jaya Bhaduri and Amitabh Bachchan, who invite him to their home. Jealousy creeps in Kia who is now convinced that it was a planned set up of Kabir to exploit her reputation and thus become famous.
This unnecessary drama cooked up only to generate interest and grab the attention of the audience fails miserably. In the end you wonder what the movie was all about and whether it was necessary to spend your valuable time and money to watch Kareena and Arjun play these lousy characters which leaves you uninspired and exhausted.
Pros: Good performance of Cast across the board. Swaroop Sampat, looked beautiful and suited the role of Kia’s mother. Conversion of Kabir-Kia’s home into a railway museum with toy trains was creative and did grab the viewer’s attention. Songs were passable.Cinematography of P. C. Sreeram came across satisfactory.
Cons: Poor script, boring screenplay with little or no impact, no challenges of married life or kids was shown but selfish nourishment of personal desires with no practical or sensible message.
Direction: R. Balki is the Director and Scriptwriter who has successfully delivered with’Cheeni Kum’ and’Paa’. His previous attempt with’Shamitabh’ generated decent reviews and succeeded due to the presence of Amitabh Bachchan and Dhanush. This time however, the script has made the movie fall flat. The excellence in direction is evident and aptly supported by the cast but the script lacked vision.
Conclusion: The movie which is a product of ‘Eros International’ & ‘Hope Productions’ has nothing new to offer except an exaggerated romantic drama that can drain you. The first half may doze you off while the second just manages to keep you awake. There is nothing that I can think of that can salvage the movie, not even the performances of Kareena and Arjun. Think twice before you decide to spend your hard-earned money on this uninspiring merry-go-round drama. ‘Ki & Ka’ could soon be watched on the small screen in the comfort of your home.