Kaal

Kaal was supposed to be the best film of the year before its release. But, as usual bollywood has produced yet another Hollywood style (read copy) time waster. The macho men like Ajay Devagan and Vivek Oberoi also could not save the disaster.

Some sequences clearly are copied from "Final Destination" and Taran Adarsh of Indiafm says these scenes are the best. I seriously don't understand how come he became a film critic. Tasteless cheap idiot.

The promos gave much hype to the movie with tigers and all the stuff. Clearly Soham concentrated more on the promos than the original film. Esha and Lara prove to be a waste. To be frank I don't find a single positive point about the movie except the marketing and pre release promotion.

My advice is not to watch the movie and waste your money.

Rating **.

'Kaal' was quite a mess of a movie. I found most of it unintentionally hilarious. Soham's direction is pretty unstable. It's as if hé himself is trying to see what happens next (when it's all quite predictable). All the performances are very bad. The camera seems to focus a lot on John Abraham's torso and the actor himself is mostly wooden. Ajay Devgan sounds sleepy all the time and looks uninterested. Esha Deol and Lara Dutta where designer outfits and run around in the jungle. While the former does nothing, the latter loudly overacts. Vivek Oberoi is the only one who acts and gives a decent performance. The 'scary' scenes provide decent comic relief. The jungle scenes were rather nicely shot (though cinematography sucks at many places) and it felt good to see a change of location rather than the dancing in New York wearing skimpy outfits. What a drag of a flick though.

When you have a reputable banner, Dharma Productions, BIG stars-Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar, and a fantastic publicity campaign backing a film, you KNOW the movie will make money. The fantastic start that KAAL has got at the box office is obviously, no surprise. But, the movie, dear Dharma productions, is sad, bad and very boring.

The movie is about John Abraham, a tiger expert working for National Geographic, his photographer wife, Esha Deol who goto Orbit Park to unearth the secrets of man-eating tigers. Surprisingly, this happens without any information to the channel, and they just land up there and try explore. The story then brings in Vivek Oberoi, Lara Dutta and their two friends, all of whom are on vacation, and as their car breaks down, a sudden turn of events lands them at Orbit Park, and after they meet Abraham and Deol, the story moves on. They meet the tigers and Ajay Devgan later, and soon tragedies happen around them, and I wouldn't spoil that for anyone who'd want to see this ridiculous excuse of a movie, which has no narrative and pace.

Soham tries to make his audience THINK. Like Oberoi lighting the cigarette and Abraham making that scary face. Obviously, the audience add two and two and make i four, but Mr. Soham is no Hitchcock. Dude, when you throw in something confusing at least offer an explanation for it. THAT's what makes the movie interesting and adds repeat value. Remember when Kevin Spacey says "the greatest trick the devil ever pulled off was to convince the world that he did not exist" or when Haley Joel Osement says "I see dead people around...the big problem is they themselves do not know they're dead"...well, it all had a meaning! Oberoi saying "smoking kills" and then smoking, eeesh! Care to explain? There are a gazillion more loop holes! A lot of people have spoken about the 'mixed reactions' the movie as got. Heck, the movie has got bad reviews everywhere, except for from Mr. Taran Adarsh, leading trade analyst. And that makes me think, why and how. Quite simply, he is obsessed with everything Karan Johar and ShahRukh Khan do. And he has no qualms about it either. He'd even rate admittedly bad things from the Khan-Johar camp and make them sound good. So, when such a reputed analyst rates the film so highly, most of the audiences are given further incentive to go watch the film.

I remember when DHOOM released, Mr. Adarsh very categorically said that "after the initial hype, this movie will die down". Taran, DHOOM was still an entertainer. KAAL, to which you give 4 stars out of 5, is dull. You may love Johar and SRK, but call a spade a spade man! I'd give this movie a */***** and that too for the brilliant sound, and the very first item number on SRK and the hot hot Malaika. The movie is downhill from there. Of course, SRK and Johar would go laughing to the bank, but guys, please don't torture us like this anymore.

Well this movie is not like the typical Bollywood horror movie. It has its different tone. Screenplay is good. But lacks story and the climax can easily be predicted. Good cast but the acting has little surprised me because all are overreacting except Ajay Devgn. Ajay Devgn was superb in the movie and fit to play the character that he plays. Otherwise just decent watch you can give it a try. It's not that horror but it's a good thriller.....

Pride is what caused Kaal. I could somehow feel Karan Johar in each and every shot, and the forced acting, the worst use of the wide angle, funny jungle sounds you could buy on a cheap CD, and of course, Shah Rukh Khan and Mallaika. For a moment it seemed more like a Pepsi Commercial, and a badly directed one at that. Strangers meet in jungle, hacked one by one, until they come upon the big secret, something that you'll guess anyway within the first fifteen minutes of the movie. the only person it might fool is someone sleeping through the movie. The Director must have really begged to get this chance, and Karan Johar must have been desperately bored. Some claim this film is a hit. Of course it will be. That's why Shah Rukh appears at the beginning, to tell us: "it's all right! this kind of crap is endorsed by me, see?" The movie is an insult to the paying-public. Of course, only a Karan Johar can get away with such blatant disrespect, with his already immoral films setting the trends for today's youngsters. while aditya chopra strives for morals, karan johar exploits the lack of it. True, he does vibe well with the public. But for how long?