Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Kai Po Che - Engrossing, Intense and worthy


When I last wrote on this blog, I made no attempt to hide my disdain for a Bollywood flick. I did so because I knew that it was a disgrace to movie viewer community, an attempt to insult their intelligence and a piece of poor than average cinema. I felt good after giving it what it deserved. But I know that I will feel even better when I am done writing this. Because I am going to write about something good today, something genuine, something that raises the bar and something that deserves the accolade and all the attention that it is getting. Today, I am going to write about “Kai Po Che”, an intense and worthy movie.

Kai Po Che (KPC), based on a novel by Mr. Chetan Bhagat (3 mistakes of my life), is a story of three young individuals belonging to middle class India in the city of Ahmedabad. Saying that they are good friends would be an understatement. They are aspirational in their own ways and their life stories can resonate very easily with an average Indian. But if you think that the story is just about friendship or you are going to see another Dil Chahta hai or 3 Idiots, then you are in for a surprise. Though it strongly depicts and weaves itself around theme of friendship, but KPC is much more than that. It is an intense movie which intricately blends friendship, love, religious politics, passion, entrepreneurial spirit, cricket in a way that any Indian can easily connect with. And in the last part lies the beauty and the power of the movie. It is a movie about India, the real one where all the drapes that cloud our vision were ripped apart. And all that stood in front of the viewers were aspirations, values, problems and passion that define India.

Talking about specifics, I am more than convinced that director Mr. Abhishek Kapoor has pulled off something special here. His directorial debut went well with ‘Rock On’ and with KPC, he has raised the bar. He has been able to capture the psychology of Indian youth and deliver it in simple cinematic language that can be easily comprehended by the viewer. Also, KPC is characterized by such an engrossing screenplay that not even once during the movie, I felt the need to have a look at my watch. As far as acting is concerned, most of the cast has done justice to the roles. All the three protagonists were able to get underneath the skin of their characters which helped them put up a great show. But If I have to choose only one actor out of three, then I will go with Mr. Raj Kumar Yadav who portrayed ‘Govind’, the character that works as a glue to hold the plot together. Lastly, it would be highly unfair to Mr. Amit Trivedi if I forget the background score. In essence, the screenplay also looks engrossing because of background score. It complements the screenplay unlike traditional Bollywood movies where it becomes more of a commercial activity instead of becoming a part of the screenplay. In nutshell, KPC has all the elements of a good watch because there is something for everybody, although I would have preferred a not-so-rushed ending.

If I felt obliged to save mortal souls from Race 2 last time, I feel an even stronger urge to recommend this piece of good cinema to every movie lover. Mr. Masand said that it’s only February and the best movie of the year seems to have arrived and I could not agree with him more. It’s a 4/5 for KPC.

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