I just came back from the screening of Kyon Ki. It was an unplanned decision to see it, I was out on business in the city, and I thought I would unwind with a Bollywood film. I could choose between Garam Masala, Shaadi no 1 and Kyon Ki; so I chose Kyon Ki. I went in with no expectations, though slightly expecting a turkey because of the negative reviews, but as I suspected all along these reviewers(Rediff and Indiafm etc) should always be taken with a pinch of salt, as they mix box office politics with film. In hindsight I resonate more with Subhah Kak’s review.
As the film opened, I was expecting it to be a straight lift of Jack Nickholson’s ’’One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’’ the entire scene where the patients get their pills, even plenty of the dialogue was lifted. I was then regretting my decision, having seen OFOCN recently, I did not want to see a Bollywood copy. Fortunately, that was the only scene that was mostly copied and to some extent the climax was as well, but suitably bollywoodized, the rest while sometimes noticably inspired by OFOCN and having similar plot devices, was original and very imaginatively done, such as sometimes lapsing into Anands imagination similar to the use of alternative realities in Kamal Hassan’s Abhay, the first one being the most hilarious when he images Om Puri as some punkstar with pink hair. It is a remake indeed, but it holds it’s own like Hum Tum(WHMS) In fact I enjoyed Kyon Ki much more than OFOCN and found it to be a superior and much more entertaining film overall. It is much more colourful and diverse than the original and explores Anand’s character more intimately.
I think Kyon Ki certainly ranks as amongst the best films of 2005 and I will support Priyadarshan’s comments that this was his best film in 15 years; I do think it’s his best, even better than Hera Pheri, Muskarahat, Virasaat, Kalapani, all which were innovative, well written, but flawed films. Priyadarshan is in great form in Kyon Ki as a dramatic and comic storyteller. Although, arguably the screenplay is uneven, mixing intense drama, comedy and romance, abiding by the masala traditions of Indian cinema, it surprisingly isn’t disjointed and narration ensures story cohesion and even the songs are well integrated; all the subplots conjoin to form a coherent and flowing whole. There are four main relationships in the film; Anand(Salman Khan) relationships with Tanvi(Kareena Kapoor) and this is a relationship of a doctor/nurse with her patient, which later develops into romance after she begins to sympathise with him after reading his diary. Anand’s relationship with Maya(Rimi Sen) who was his ex-lover and she becomes the cause of his insanity; Anand’s relationship with Dr Sunil(Jackie Shroff) who actually knows Anand when he was a child and is like an elder brother to him. Finally, the relationship of the institution with Anand, which is personified by Dr Khurana(Om Puri) who is a cold-blooded dictator and Anands interactions with the staff and other patients.
Unlike OFOCN, the emphasis here is not on the patients, but on these four central relationships, each which reveal a different layer of Anands character. There are also some comic and dramatic scenes with the patients as well. The comic scenes in the film always drew out some laughs from the audience. Undeniably, the entire film rests on the broad shoulders of Salman Khan and he certainly succeeds in one of his career best performances, if not his best. Salman Khan entertains you throughout the film with his sarcasm, his sharp wit, his insane antics, his childlike tantrums; his naive and innocence does charm you and it would be difficult not to be affected by his characterization. I will add, that Anand’s character is not the same character that John Nicholson played, he genuinely is mentally insane and is not as violent and aggressive as Nicholson’s. I am not a Salman Khan fan, and I’ve always been left unimpressed with his performances, but recently Salman Khan has matured as an actor and I am really starting to warm to him. Om Puri is excellent as the cold-blooded dicator, Kareena Kapoor is effective and Rimi Sen is pleasant. Jackie Shroff, however, tends to overact and be melodramatic. The supporting actors are good.
The songs are definitely a highpoint and always move the plot forwards, they are very melodious and oldfashioned, eye catching and very well integrated into the film. The first song in the film is in a scene, inspired by OFOCN’s scene where Nicholson tries to get people to put up their hands to vote for television(to see a game) but here Anand is trying to get them to vote to have a song played. In 2 minutes he has to get 13 votes. He fails of course and then walks of miserable, and then the patients erupt into a song and dance to cheer him up. For the first time I’ve seen a scene in a Bollywood film where it was literally crying out loud for a song and you want it - in fact- dying for it!
The cinematography and art direction are excellent(hampered slightly by not so good print quality however) particularly the sets of the institution and certainly scores over OFOCN in that department, though that would be an unfair comparison, as this is a bigger budgeted and modern film. There are a few action scenes too in this film and they are very well done, particularly the speeding car sequence. Although, the scene where Salman Khan leaps before an incoming train is not extremely convincing, but that is a rather insignificant flaw. The background score, especially during the Church sequence is rousing stuff!
All in all a very entertaining film that intermixes great comedy and romance with hardhitting pathos(I stole that line from a review in the cinema magazine) and don’t go by the reviews that this is a depressing film, the entire audience was laughing throughout the film with the jokes, me included and were transfixed by the drama. Yes, it does have a sad ending and a very ironic ending, but it leaves a stong impact. Highly recommended.