“Kisna” movie is a textbook on filmmaking. Yes, I mean it. All of you who are aspiring to become directors / screenwriters, go and watch this movie immediately. It has got a lot of lessons in it, which I am going to list shortly. I think Subash Ghai has crafted this movie as a part of the curriculum for the direction course in “Whistling woods film Institute” which he is going to open shortly. A textbook should not only teach the Do’s to make a good film but also it has to discuss the Don’ts to make a good film. Unfortunately or may be unintentionally, “Kisna” teaches how a movie shouldn’t be made.
Pre release media hype will never help for success of any movie. Everyone in the press, media and even in the film industry made funny statements and gave tags like “Epic Love Story”, “Magnum Opus of Ghai” and even gone to the level of saying that Kisna is India’s answer to cameroon’s Titanic. Neither “Kisna” is a Titanic nor Subash Ghai is a James Cameroon. All these tag didn’t work to pull the crowd. The failure of the movie affirms that mere marketing techniques will never make a movie hit.
Actual one line premise of the movie is really interesting and the perspective with which Ghai has formatted the basic story line is commendable. A sweet love angle between an Indian villager and a English lady and both facing many obstacles during their journey to Delhi has lot of scope for a much better movie with this storyline than what has been made. It is really worth of making an epic love story as advertised. But instead with a meshed up screenplay, incoherent scenes, clichés and half-baked characterizations, the movie is a real disaster. It is a good opportunity gone waste. And teaches us that a mere interesting story line is not enough for the movie; it is the gripping screenplay which makes or breaks any movie.
Vivek Oberoi who recently proved himself as a real life hero by stretching help hands to Tsunami victims, couldn’t shine successfully as a reel life hero. I read critics writing that Vivek is unable to carry a movie on his shoulders. A hero is not expected to carry any movie on his own shoulders; it is the script, which has to drive the movie and not the hero. In my opinion, Vivek Oberoi has done a pretty descent job. But the reason for people to think badly about his performance is again lack of details in his character. He has really done well at some places like where he encounters his own brother for saving Catherine. I feel even Shah rukh khan, the so called crowd puller who is capable of carrying any crap on his own would have done exactly the same what Vivek did in this movie. This teaches us the story and screenplay is the real hero of any movie.
Isha Sharvani is a major disappointment in the movie. Her performance is nowhere near to that of Gracy Singh’s in “Lagaan” in a similar role. After a point, her tree hanging rope dance, body stretches are irritating and point whenever she came on screen, people started laughing in the theatre. And again for this we have to blame Ghai who misused her talents. And the lesson here is as a creator one has to really expose the hidden talents of his actors but it should be kept to a minimum and only those talents that his script demands should be used. In India only K.Balachander is capable of doing this well by which it both exposes the unique talents of the actor and also adds value to the movie is some way.
Next is the most important lesson that is very much necessary for the young spring directors who have a notion that if we have a crew of best technicians around we can give a great movie. Ashok Metha as Cinematographer does a fine job in bringing the right tone and texture of the era. I really liked the visuals of the English song. The frames just shows the richness in the visuals but due to lack of emotions even it fails to register those rich colored visuals in our minds.
Though A.R.Rahman and Ismail Darbar gave good music, it is not well utilized by the director. The efforts of the composers are wasted by the improper placement of the song, which serves as the hindrance to the pace of the movie, which is already struggling, with slow moving scenes. A.R.Rahman’s background score is average and after a point it is tiring to hear “Hum hai iss pal yahan” tune repeated again and again in the background but there are few good pieces here and there but on the whole, BG score is also disappointing.
Tinu Varma’s action sequences aren’t good enough. The sword fights and chase sequences lack the required speed and energy in it. The costumes and art direction are authentic to the period of the film but what about the emotional content of the movie, even these good efforts in detailing the era has gone waste. Choreography of the song “Chilman” is good and for the English song it is quite innovative.
The major flaw in the movie is the lack of scenes that reveals the gradual transition of relationship from friendship to love between the lead pairs. The scene where it is said to be moment at which the love sparks in their hearts for the first time while they stare at each other after taking bath on a river bank is not convincing and moreover it is a mere physical attraction and degrades the meaning of real love and contradicts Kisna’s dialogues about pure love in the climax.
The only relief in the movie is Antonio’s performance as Catherine, the character around which the whole story revolves. Especially I liked her in the scene where she is found in a Siva temple after running away from home. The agony, shock, stranded feel everything is aptly mixed and emoted through her eyes as like her eyeballs are floating in the sea of tears. Considering her a pure english lady she did a pretty good job in dialogue delivery even better than that of Rachel Shelley in ’’Lagaan’’. The big plus is that you never see her as the foriegn lady and we feel her very much indian inspite of her English looks.
Among others, Om puri is impressive in neat cameo. Amrish Puri is fated to do same villainous role that he has been doing all these years in his last movie too.
Finally a small request to Subash Ghai, please don’t take this movie to international audience, which may create a bad impression on Indian films, and they may under estimate the creativity of Indians on the whole.