Ring barse
Khaled Mohamed
Karthik Calling Karthik
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Deepika Padukone, a telephone (landline)
Director: Vijay Lalwani
Rating: Two stars
Mouse sweet mouse. He stumbles, bumbles, mumbles for as many as four years at a swankyish office. A cross between Rocket Singh and Woody Allen, he writes up a thousand-plus emails but doesn’t send them to the gorgeous woman in that see-through cabin who seems to be doing damn-all.Evidently, this guy’s not headed for any hall of fame or ill-fame. He’s just a crashing bore.
Yeah but you know the drift. The undermouse is just about to become a Mighty Mouse that roars crores, thanks to director Vijay Lalwani’s Karthik Calling Karthik, in principle an enterprise of potential. In fact, you’re all keyed up for a psycho-thriller which seeks to yoke matters of the heart with a disturbed mind. Dilwala meets Cuckoo? Huh, terrific.
Sorry to say, your high hopes crashland. The effort to get close to the main protagonist’s mind jungle is a bungle. Okay, so he plays around with a Rubik’s Cube. So what?And no distinction is made at all between psycho-analysis and psychiatry. That’s a huge flaw, indicating the director-writer’s shallow understanding of the distinct disciplines. All you get is an over-dolled up shrink, who looks more more serious than a stockbroker reading the year’s budget. She’s quite a giggle, portrayed starchily by the usually bankable Shifaali Shah (her spelling, not mine). Once she plays around with fingers, then she wears a shawl, then she looks utterly distraught. Quite a Freud egg bhurji, she.
To be fair, the screenplay does kick off engrossingly enough, describing the daily beat of meek Karthik (Farhan Akhtar). He deals with a greedy landlord (know any other types?), blends into the workplace woodwork, is terrorised by a beastly boss (Ram Kumar hamming as if he was portraying Idi Amin), and our little mouse also gazes at that see-through cabin woman (Deepika Padukone) the way a kid longs for a lollipop. More: there are those childhood-related, soft-focus nightmares in which his big brother wanted to push him into a well (puhlease). Luck by chance, the big bro plunged and perished himself. Oh well, a vague allusion, this, to Hollywood’s Ordinary People.
Thanks to Alexander Graham Bell’s wunderbar invention, life reverses. At 5 am, a voice over the phone tells Mousy what to do. Abracadabra. Landlord’s falling at his feet, Beastly Boss decrees a super promotion, See-Through is quaffing coffee with him in Aati-Kya-Khandala, and they’re even pubbing besides making cool conversation about taking advantage of each other in a drunken stupor. Mercifully, no one cries, “Humse bhool ho gayee.” Aieeeee.
So far, so okay. Then the pyscho-babble comes on thick as a brick. Mighty is back to being Mouse again, even taking off for a blind trip to South India (even he must not know where he’s headed). The last section of this overly-long 16-reeler, alas, places your teeth at edge. The screenplay becomes ridiculous,. Plus, who-cares-for-the-viewer editing cuts are used to skip over the rank implausibilities of the plot. Can’t show it (a suicide aftermath scene), forget it. Although the dialogue is hip, the twists and turns of the dramaturgy are anything but. To elaborate on this aspect would mean too many spoilers. Suffice it say, you can’t understand why there are so many repetitions of, “Are you mad?”, “Are you okay”, “You need help.”
So do you. Illnesses are being tackled by the movies nowadays, the only outsanding result being Taare Zameen Par. This one deals with schizophrenia but superficially and ponderously. Literally, a character is shown reading a book titled “Understanding Schizophrenia.” Wow…you learn less about the subject than you did in the past from unaffected thrillers like Red Rose in or the black-and-white drama Raat aur Din.
Frequently, the tempo crawls like a snail on tranquilisers. The background songs and montages post-intermission are redundant. As for the backstories for both Mouse and See-Through Cabin Lady, naaaah, unless u count a hyper cousin who pops up like a Jack-in-the-box. All the supporting characters are caricatured, especially the Idi Amin Boss and an office Romeo, both of whom are reported to have wives and affairs. Tsk tsk. READ MORE HERE
5 comments:
Rediff Review by Sukaya Verma - 2.5/5
The idea of a mystical assistance to succeed through life's inevitable disappointments is quite a fascinating one. Genie in the lamp, Fairy Godmothers or any wish-granting medium is an upshot of this peculiar human fantasy.
Karthik Calling Karthik [ Images ], too, stems from this deep-rooted desire.
Only our eponymous hero (Farhan Akhtar [ Images ]) isn't Aladdin, Cinderella or Bruce Nolan (of Almighty fame). A stereotypical weak geek at the receiving end of his scowling landlord (Vipin Sharma doing what he does best -- snap) and growling boss (Ram Kapoor with his snarling skills should sign up for Wolf Man), he's pretty much invisible for everyone else in the world, including, the leggy colleague in a pencil skirt (Deepika Padukone [ Images ]) to whom he's written a thousand plus unsent drafts of affection. Basically, he is Amol Palekar of Chhoti Si Baat, sans the goofy smile and mysterious past.
Dude seems to be in desperate need of Cinkara (Hamdard ka tonic, anyone?). But this is Farhan's production. And he's all about indelible charisma, hip aesthetics and urban wit. While the easygoing charm and wall decor is spot on, absence of crisp humour is conspicuously felt all through its loitering 16 reels.
Having said that, it's imperative to remember this is a Vijay Lalwani film. The first-time director is the strength or weakness behind its story, screenplay, dialogue and direction. If you view this with the expectations of a Farhan caper, you're doing both of them great disservice.
In other words, herbal tonic is out of question. Instead Karthik starts receiving strange calls from another Karthik who promises to help him attain everything that is rightly his -- power, money and love.
Desperate for comfort, Karthik doesn't need too much convincing before he takes up the seemingly unconditional offer. In no time, he's promoted from cabin to cubicle and single to boyfriend status.
No personality makeover in Hindi films is complete without a change of wardrobe. Even Sai Paranjape couldn't resist doing this to Farooq Shaikh in Chashme Buddoor. And so it's bye-bye Surinder Sahni and say-hello-to-Dil-Chahta-Hai.
Quickly enough, Lalwani runs out of ideas and till intermission KCK seems to be heading nowhere. Pace (editing by Aarti Bajaj [ Images ]) is one of the film's recurring problems. It's unnecessarily pensive and long-winded for its genre.
Even the romantic interactions are sluggish and uninspired. Although Farhan and Deepika are a cool couple to look at, you don't feel the vibe, mainly, because the conversations are just so 'meh'.
Their chemistry fares better against the breezy Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy [ Images ] composition, Hey Ya, choreographed effectively around their courtship and dating in office, malls, coffee shops and Khandala.
Things get dark and creepy in the second half when the Karthik-Karthik pact takes a beating. This is when Lalwani comes in his element and shows a flair for gritty thrillers without resorting to cheesy exaggeration or relying on excessive technique (camerawork: Sanu John Varughese, background score: Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale).
Read more fromHERE
Nikhat Kazmi - KCK 3.5 Stars
In the mood for serious cinema? Watch Karthik Calling Karthik
Does it work?
It does, At one level. Vijay Lalwani's film is immensely watchable, purely for the class act by Farhan Akhtar in the title role. Even Deepika Padukone pitches in perfectly as the sassy, uptown girl who has burnt her fingers a bit too much, as do the fringe players like Ram Kapoor and Shefali Chayya. One does wish there was a bit more of the bubbly Ms Padukone, though. Where it doesn't work is the entertainment factor. The screenplay does tend to get a bit clunky and the drama somewhat heavy as the director looks for text book resolutions of the teasing problem. But, by and large, there is a thrill factor that keeps the momentum on.
IndiaGlitz 3/5
Karthik Calling Karthik - Calls for some enigmatic moments
‘Karthik Calling Karthik’ is a movie that one can admire without exactly embracing it.
Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment’s next after ‘Luck By Change’ is a paranoia-inducing suspenser about a spit personality in this sort of psycho thriller toned mind –game of a movie.
Crafted with a commanding aloof precision by Vijay Lalwani in his first outing as a writer and a helmer takes an unusual dive into this genre which is not common in Bollywood without apparent rules and manages to generates an intriguing intellectual intrigue that covers 70% of its running time which allows to arouse buffs, trendies and techies more than the mainstream auds.
It’s not that dark, edge of the seat thingie but answers your ‘inner voice’ which demands some expecting moments.
IBNLive 3.5/5
Farhan Akhtar is brilliant in this thrilling and touching tale
The chartbusting songs provide a li'l bit of relief from the slow pace, but the undercurrent of the tension onscreen remains – which is both good and bad.
But Karthik Calling Karthik never gives you that high you expect from a thriller. It will also remind you of some Hindi or English films on the same subject, which I'm not revealing on purpose. Nevertheless, it's a touching tale.
Verdict: Vijay Lalwani shows that Taare Zameen Par and My Name is Khan are not the only two ways to treat sensitive subjects on celluloid. But the film does not have repeat value once you know the suspense.
Taran Adarsh 2.5/5
Have you ever received a call from yourself?
Let's accept the fact that a concept like this instinctively generates curiosity in the film. But the real test is to make the story work in those 2 hours. Also - this is vital - the identity of the caller should come as a jolt when the film concludes.
Write your own movie review of Karthik Calling Karthik KARTHIK CALLING KARTHIK works in parts, but during the penultimate part, when the story shifts from Mumbai to Kerala, the sand castle, so beautifully built by debutante director Vijay Lalwani, gets washed away.
One doesn't want to challenge the behavioural patterns of a person with a certain disorder, but when it comes to the big screen, when you are narrating a story on celluloid, you need to do a lot of spoon-feeding and make it look convincing. In this case, unfortunately, the finale is just not convincing and therefore, acts as a spoilsport.
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