Kaal - The Review

[Endurer]

Movie: Kaal
Review By : Adeel Hassan

Producers: Karan Johar & Shah Rukh Khan's 'red chillies productions'
Director: Soham
Cast: Ajay Devgan, Vivek Oberoi, John Abraham, Lara Dutta, Esha Deol.

Man-eating tigers, venoms, horrific owls, creeping scorpions, Karan Johar’s Kaal attempts to be a wild joyride, but the promise is broken mid-way. It is inevitable for a bollywood movie to be packed with masala stuff, but karan johar was an exception, at the end it was a queer mish mash of a thriller-cum-adventure-cum-horror-cummystery. Debutant director Soham’s churning is so dreary that even the film’s two-hour length is exhausting. Kaal begins with John Abraham (Krish) wrestling bare-chested with a python, and the director Soham focuses more on his prime assets ala the body of John Abraham than on the scene itself. salman khan could have done it better though.

shameless commercialism kicks the movie with another shah rukh khan song, namely 'kaal'. which is a diabloic effort by both shah rukh khan & the sexy malaika aka 'mtv loveline' girl. coming back to the movie, well washing plates at the kitchen would have been more fun than watching yet another confusing & boring bollywood flick. Ajay Devgan (kaali) who first appeared as a guide of these friends in a parallel track, four friends — Dev (Oberoi) and superstitious girlfriend Ishika (Dutta), with two friends (Vishal Malhotra and Kushal Punjabi), Krish and Riya, ended up being an unrealistic soul aka 'Aatma'. this topic might could've moved the audience back in 1960z or 80z, but thumbs down when you plan to launch it in a much mature audience of 2005. The story (inspired, copied, plagiarized call it whatever) is a masala mix of several Hollywood films — Ghost and the Darkness, Final Destination, Anaconda, Wrong Turn, The Ring, Jurassic Park & even Gladiator, take your pick! :wink:

Technically the only effective death sequence of Vishal Malhotra is too long. Then the tacky special effects spoiled it more. The turning point in the climax, which adds a supernatural (superstitious?) aspect to the film, could’ve been the film’s high point. But again, it isn’t thanks to the mundane script & horrific direction. most of the times it seemed as if the cast is running infront of a huge TV screen than in the jungle itself. lighting was so hilarious, one can easily spot a studio bulb over vivek's face most of the times in the movie.

now things that i still am pondering on are:

where are those heroines getting all that make-up from in the middle of the jungle :thinking; i suppose they forgot to introduce the make-up artiste in the movie, who knows, a special appearance, it's bollywood afterall

john abraham might turn into a contract with some tobacco company, most of the times in the movie, you would see his cigarette more than his face. (correct me if i'm wrong) but gettting the fags in the middle of the jungle is just something to ponder on, either of the two things.. "john was promoting that brand.. commercialism dude, of course" OR "this is one of those mysteries-un-solved in Kaal"

how on earth can an "Aatma" pick piles of woods ? why was that Aatma unable to stop the remaining three (super :wink: ) heroes at the end? never-the-less for everything weird, we have an excuse, as all of you know, it's "bollywood - kuch bhi ho sakta hey )

i won't forgive SRK for his red ganji, leather pants and tattooed arms. God knows how would you bear it.

at the end i would say, adventures and horror flicks are perhaps best left to Ram Gopal Varma. Afterall he knows the "Bhoot" Better

[Ghazel]

hmmm.nice.

[Endurer]

thanks
whats that picture about ^o)

[Fairy]

:lol:

Good job Adeel :up;

[jimywaugh]

Campaigns given a lot of hype for the film the tigers and all that stuff. Soham clearly focused more on offer than the original film. Esha and Lara prove to be a waste. Frankly, I can not find a positive side for the film, except for marketing and promotion before the release.