FILMIKHABAR

What has happened to the quality of our films? Till 2007, we used to get the best of the entertainers and comic capers. But the downfall began in 2008 when suddenly we started getting nonsensical flicks of the comedy genre which were not even properly executed. The ‘tradition’ continues in 2009 and after Chandni Chowk To China and Paying Guests, here comes another such flick-Kambakkht Ishq. One of my most awaited movies of the year, the film badly fails due to no-story and faulty script. A golden chance lost, indeed! More about it later!

The story of the movie: Viraj (Akshay Kumar) is a stuntman in Hollywood who feels that women are good only for two things. Simrita (Kareena Kapoor), a model, hates men and doesn’t believe in love. Both meet and start hating each other a lot from the first meeting itself. Unfortunately for them, they come across several points and the dislike for each other grows even more. At this point of time, Viraj meets with an accident and is taken to hospital. A dramatic twist of fate takes place at this juncture and both have to come closer. To find out why does this happen and what happens next, watch the film.

As one can see, Kambakkht Ishq doesn’t have much to offer. For most parts of the film, the protagonists are fighting with each other. Even the fight could have been an interesting watch. But alas…the four screenwriters including the director couldn’t add something interesting and humorous in many scenes. Take for instance, the Italy sequence. The scene hardly makes for an entertaining watch and even the song ‘Lakh Lakh’ fails to impress.

However, Kambakkht Ishq begins well. In fact, the first scene gives an indication that the film is gonna rock. However, soon after the excellent entry of Kareena Kapoor in the church scene, the film falls. However, there are some individualistic scenes which are fantastic and stand out. Akshay getting operated and Akshay hearing the mantra everywhere were fabulous and utterly hilarious! O! If the entire film would have been so funny!

The climax should be the highpoint of any film. However, in the case of Kambakkht Ishq, the climax was plain mediocre.

Performance wise, each actor gives his best and comes up with nice performances. Akshay Kumar was as usual natural and gives a fab performance. He was at his best in the above mentioned two hilarious scenes. However, its highpoint that Akshay become choosy with his scripts and doesn’t sign any nonsensical film. He’s a great actor and a wonderful person and people want to see him in good entertainers and not in films like Kambakkht Ishq and Singh Is Kinng! Akshay, come back!

Kareena Kapoor looked charming and was terrific throughout the film. She packs in the perfect attitude and snobbishness that was needed for the role and comes out with flying colours. Watch out for her terrific expressions in the underwater sequence. The film may or may not be liked by everyone, but Kareena would surely charm one and all!

Aftab Shivdasani and Amrita Arora play their respective roles perfectly. Jaaved Jaaferi was funny only in his initial scene. Boman Irani brings the house down even though he was there only for one scene. Kirron Kher was as usual excellent.

Now for the Hollywood stars. All three of them-Brandon Routh, Denise Richards and Sylvester Stallone play their part with élan. However, it is Stallone who leaves a tremendous mark. Others do a good job.

Anu Malik’s music was great and it seems he’s all ready to make a ‘comeback’! Three songs stand out-RDB’s Mangalam, Bebo and Kyun. Salim-Sulaiman’s background score was top notch. The introductory song ‘Welcome To Hollywood’ was also composed by them.

Vikas Shivraman’s cinematography was flawless. Art Direction by Acropolis was grand and beautiful. In fact, it’s the wonderful production design that makes the film delightful to some extent. The locales were eye-catchy.

Kiran Kotrial, Anvita Dutt Guptan, Ishita Malhotra and Sabbir Khan-these are the screenwriters and in other words, the culprits who are responsible for the film’s debacle! Guptan and Kotrial are not new to writing and it’s shocking that they did such a shoody job. In fact, Kiran Kotrial had wonderfully scripted Fear Factor and directed Oye! It’s Friday. Very unfortunate!

Finally, Sabbir Khan, the first-time director disappoints. There were lots of hopes from the newbie but unfortunately, he fails to deliver what was expected. He had a wonderful star cast, a producer who was ready to spend infinite amount and most importantly, a Hollywood backdrop. Also, the action scenes were badly executed. For instance, the scene where Akki meets with an accident was so badly treated. Sabbir misses the bus-better luck next time!

Some of the best scenes of the movie:
1.   The first scene
2.   The scene inside the church
3.   Viraj meeting with an accident
4.   Viraj’s operation and the intermission point (funny!)
5.   Viraj hearing the mantra (hilarious!)
6.   The underwater sequence

On the whole, Kambakkht Ishq is a big letdown. The film has only some few individualistic scenes which really entertain but overall, the film falls flat! Go for it if you are an Akshay Kumar/Kareena-fan. It would be interesting to see the fate of the film at the Box-Office!

My rating-** out of 5!

The review first appeared on MouthShut.com: http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Kambakkht_Ishq-170589-1.html