After the nadir of his career ? Yaadein, Mr. Ghai finally salvages his position as ?The Showman Of India? with Kisna. Village damsels dancing in plush Indian hills, exuberant boatmen singing Indian folk songs, oldies preaching Indian values, rough rookies conniving against the good, lovely Indian people showing beautiful Indian villages.
Well, that is Ghai?s area of core-competence: Typically Indian! Yes, the I-Love-My-India Ghai is back. In Kisna, Ghai is absolutely in his element. He sheds off many of his unwanted self-indulgences(there is no special appearance by Subhash Ghai!) and commercialisms(no Clorets ads!). Its quite clear that he wanted to come back with the vengeance of a good-turned-bad film-maker.
Ghai takes us on a journey of love to define what values like Karma and Dharma mean to us. Bordering on the metaphysical dimensions of love, he tries to preach us what ?true love’’ is. But, we Indians have been consistently fed on a staple diet of so many ’’true love’’ romantic Indian films that we already know what ?true love? is.. something that is totally unreal, immortal and stuff that happens only in movies. Kisna is no exception. It takes us on a make-believe, feel-good journey of painful(and, lustless) love that a RamGopalVarma can never comprehend.
Kisna is a metaphor for a true-Indian, for whom his values and traditions are everything. Catherine is a calm, fun-loving daughter of the British head of the village. Laxmi is a hot-headed, village damsel-cum-dancer. Right from the childhood, the quintessential love-triangle starts.
The blasphemy of a low-caste Indian falling in love with a well-bred Britisher keeps their best-friendship from budding into love. Meanwhile, our ever possessive village damsel forces an engagement with Kisna just to ?be safe?. Coincidentally the year is 1947. And, there are lots of other important issues in India than love and marriage. Kisna?s ruffian brother(a revolutionary, who claims to be another Bhagat Singh) kills Catherine?s ruthless British father, and now wants the life of Catherine.
There are several enemies: his British-thirsty brother, a Machiavellian maharaja, and to top it: 1947 partition riots. Kisna(the Warrior Poet) dawns, saves her life, recites poetry to her, dances with her in her dreams, baths with her, and finally takes her safely to Delhi. This physical journey also translates into an emotional journey of a best-friendship conveniently slipping into long-awaited ?true? love. This conflict in the form of a budding love in the backdrop of a breaking nation forms the crux of the story, and wants us to redefine our definitions of love(?true love never sleeps?) and India(?true India is in the villages?). But, sorry Mr. Ghai, we are too intelligent to take lessons from you.
The concept of ending a movie with white-haired protagonists still charged-up with emotions of nostalgia, seems to have become a fashion. You see, it makes love legendary. And, gives it that ?class? feel. Well, agreed. But thankfully, it helps Ghai give a decent(though, not subtle) ending rather than his drab, dull, over-emphatic, over-preachy endings that Ghai?s earlier films are so characteristic of.
Performances wise, Vivek Oberoi does a good job as a more sober guy, distinct from his happy-go-lucky image. Antonia Bernath is absolutely wonderful as the cute-little Britisher and Isha Sharavani does amaze(and, scare) you with her gymnastic-dances. OmPuri in a brief role is endearing. Amrish Puri?s last film wouldn?t be remembered for him though.
The showman uses his technical team with great care, but doesnt quite succeed. The soulful background score and music, mindboggling choreography, good cinematography, well-studied art-direction makes Kisna a well-finished product. Yes, its Assembly-line cinema, but still not very run-of-the-mill.
But for minor glitches like the ill-placed(but, nevertheless wonderful) Sushmita?s song(was it supposed to be an item song?), over-preachy dialogues about love, and some weird gymnastic choreography, Kisna is worth a watch for the people who are never tired of loving love.
As several characters in several contexts in Kisna say, ?We may be poor people, but very rich when it comes to love?. Well, its filmy and funny. So, what? That?s Bollywood, exclusively for your wonderful, little hearts.