Krrish

The very first Indian movie I saw in its entirety as a kid, was Annamalai, starring Superstar Rajnikanth. Since then I was intrigued by Indian cinema, but never found the patience nor the time to sit through the standard fare of at least 2.5-3hrs of pure spectacle. On and off I caught bits and pieces of movies shown on TV, and the last Bollywood movie I saw mid-way, was Shah Rukh Khan's Asoka, and that's it.

Krrish is a sequel to the blockbuster Koi... Mil Gaya, also directed by Rakesh Roshan, but no worries if you haven't seen the first movie - you'll be brought up to speed in no time, and Krrish will also work if it stood alone. First off, it's a superhero movie combined with science fiction, so that was a plus point to have this movie reintroduce me to Bollywood once again. And it worked. With romance, action, and some comedy thrown into the mix, what can one ask for more for pure entertainment?

Those not familiar with Bollywood movies might balk at the length of Krrish - almost 5 minutes shy of 3 hours, which is quite standard runtime fare (there is a clearly marked "interval" in the movie, but it was not utilized here). But I tell you that you won't feel its length, and will actually secretly hope that it continues some more. The first hour dwelled on the introduction of our hero Krishna (Hrithik Roshan), a man born with extraordinary powers, whose grandmother Sonia took upon herself to shield him from a world awaiting to exploit his talent, if discovered. It's like a visit to the Kent farm, except that the whole grandmother- son relationship looked more at home vis-a-vis Spiderman's Aunt May and Peter Parker.

When Krishna meets Priya (the gorgeous Priyanka Chopra, Miss World 2000) by chance during her adventure holiday camp, and he becomes smitten with her, moving the movie towards a romance. She's the quintessential Singapore modern career girl, who puts career (or trying to salvage it) before love, and therein complicates matters of the heart when we get to the boy-momentarily-loses-girl bit. Plenty of drama in this area, though it doesn't dwell too long on it, increasing the pace for the action bits.

Those eager to see Krrish, the superhero, will have to wait almost 2 hours before he makes an appearance in full costume. He's like Jet Li's cousin Black Mask with the black outfit and abilities, but with a better looking facial piece to disguise his identity. But with or without costume, we see Krishna's prowess through various stunt and fight choreography enhanced by wirework from one of Hong Kong's stunt masters, Chen Siu-Tung, especially in his "qing gong" abilities to glide effortlessly through the air like Chinese martial artists. There's also a showpiece for Hrithik to demonstrate the kung-fu skills picked up, and the fights, if compared with other Bollywood movies, have toned down its cheesy sound effects and credibility issues because of its premise (if a superhero punches you, you'll definitely fly what).

And what's a Bollywood flick without song and dance? Yes, our hero sings and dances when romancing his love, from the mountains in India to the skyscrapers in Singapore, but he doesn't do so as his alter-ego Krrish (yup, just let the superhero stick to kicking serious rear). There are 5 beautiful songs in Krrish, and save for the one in the circus, the rest did not involve mass dancing by extras, which kept the focus purely on the leads. And the dance choreography was pretty amazing too, though I was surprised that Hrithik Roshan, given his muscular bulk, could dance so gracefully. Oh, did I mention Priyanka Chopra is gorgeous?

While the romance and action bit were interesting, the science fiction bit was unfortunately found wanting. Not that it was bad, but because it was too familiar. Adapting the same plot as Philip K Dick's Paycheck, the sets, premise and plot device looked exactly the same as John Woo's Paycheck movie - we have the evil Dr Arya (Naseeruddin Shah) building a supercomputer which can look into the future, and therefore becoming God himself. The evil lair too looked like Woo's underground lair in M:I2, complete with pigeons (no doves in Singapore).

For those who want to know more about the local landmarks used - Singapore Expo was used quite a bit, since it's large enough to be filmed at different areas passing off as different venues, even doubling up as Changi Airport's arrival hall entrance with smart editing. The Esplanade was another choice location as the HQ of a conglomerate run by Dr Arya, with National Library's Pod doubling as the penthouse office. There are many scenes with glass windows, which will clue you in on the location of the current setting. Other notable locations are the condos at Kallang, Shenton Way / Raffles Place, Lau Pa Sat (widely publicized during the shoot here), the Singapore River and our offshore islands.

Krrish reminded me that cinema is about the big spectacle, and I encourage anyone who's into song, dance, and especially those interested in seeing local landmarks make their way into movies, to give Krrish a shot. It made Singapore look sexy, and probably showed us a different angle in making an action movie here. While awaiting the arrival of Singer's Man of Steel, watch Krrish!

Well Krrish is the highly awaited sequel to "Koi mil gaya". The wait is finely over.so how does it fare?Does it live up to the hype? well there could be mixed answers to this question.

Its definitely better than the first part. But on the acting point of view it definitely disappoints. the film solely relies on Hrithik Roshan's shoulders and he delivers but this is certainly not his best as an actor though as krrish i cannot think of anybody else but him playing the role , all the other characters are just passable which include the highly talented "Rekha" who looks uncomfortable in the role of a grand mother.Priyanka Chopra looks good and is camera friendly though not much of the histrionics on her part.

The story is quite predictable with hardly any twists.The first half of the film is a mediocre boy meet girl romance with tracing the origins of krishna aka krrish. the music is alright though not as good as rajesh roshan's previous attempts. its only in the second half that film picks up and the special effects come into play.These special effects are good according to bollywood standards. Like any other superhero movie it does have a villain in Naseeruddin Shah.he has played roles as a villain like in "Mohra" before but this time hes strictly okay.

The film has high production values the director has handled the product well.But overall he's confused whether to churn out an out and out sci fi flick or a mix of all genres.The film was Promoted as a Super hero movie though its more of a romantic-super hero type. That thing could be due to the budget constraints it was not made as solely as a science fiction/super hero movie. The special effects look a mix of "matrix" ,"crouching tiger hidden dragon" and other action flicks . On the whole krrish traces the origins of our very own desi super hero. it could be the first in the series with more to come. I hope the sequel will be more of a super hero type with more CGI and special effects romped in.

Go see krrish if you are a Hrithik Fan. you will not be disappointed.

all an all a popcorn flick with a difference.

I saw Krrish in Stockholm yesterday. I am not keen on science fiction movies, even if I used to read science fiction when I was young. I have never before seen an Indian movie on cinema and perhaps because it was the first time, I liked Krrish very much. Indian films are longer than Hollywood/European films, but it didn't feel long at all. Must have been entertaining! It did not matter at all that the film makers had borrowed ideas from other films(Flying Daggers, ET, Dr.Who, whatever). The film was very Indian and didn't feel like a copy of anything. I loved the music and dances, the dance in the circus was wonderful!

The actor who played Krrish felt quite right for the role. I have seen him in KKKB, but didn't think much about him then, was too fascinated by Sharukh. This is my first film critic ever! Becoming addicted to Indian films make me do strange things!!

I have been lurking on this section for some time now, with a few raised eyebrows at some of the comments that have been passed here. I think some are just wholly unjustified and inaccurate.

I have seen Krrish twice now. It is an unabashed popcorn entertainer. You're typical Hollywood special effects summer blockbuster, only that it has a unique Indian soul and the quintessential Bollywood elements. It is an accomplished blend of Indian popular storytelling , western technology and Asian action and it's historic success in India, proves how successful this fusion is.

Surprisingly, unlike most Hollywood film, where technology and action takes precedence, here special effects are minimally and virtuously(often seamlessly) used and most of the emphasis is on the emotional journey of the protagonist, who is reborn as the superhero, only towards the end, shifting to sci-fi action and concluding in a mesmerising ground-air-sea helicopter chase sequence, supported by an awesome and adrenaline-pumping background score.

Now I am going to deal with the common issues made against Krissh:

1. Action and special effects do not compare to Hollywood standards.

You really do need to define what Hollywood standards are. I have seen many big budget Hollywood special effects extravaganzas and the quality of special effects are variable; they range from good to bad; from shot to shot and from film to film.

Krrish is nothing below "Hollywood standards" It has effects work that is on par or better than some Hollywood films, and less than some. What matters most, is do they work on their own terms, and given that masses of people, including international critics have appreciated them, means an emphatic yes.

2. The techniques, effects and stunts are borrowed and/or plagiarised from Hollywood and Asian films; such as Crouching Tiger, House of flying daggers,Paycheck, Matrix.

First of all, it would make sense that special effects techniques have been repeated from Hollywood, because the special effects supervisors - are from Hollywood.

It would make sense that the stunts and martial arts have been repeated from Asian films, because the stunt choreographer - is from Hong Kong.

Secondly, techniques are invented to be reused. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.

A filmmaker has at his utility an entire tool-kit of established techniques. It is how he uses them to actualise his vision that creates originality. In that respect, Rakesh Roshan is not a hack, because while he borrows techniques, he tailors them to his unique vision and lends them an originality of their own.

The stunts and action scenes have been designed according to Krrish's character and his own quirks, abilities and idiosyncrasies.

In particular, the final ground-air-sea helicopter chase sequence and the shot where Krrish uses the fountain jet to catapult him(awesome shot) into the air has never been done before. The anime-inspired fight sequence on the island is another spark of creativity. The initial sequence of him running to catch the glider is another very original sequence. Ditto for the Circus fire scene.

3. Krrish is a mundane love story, comedy and drama for most of the film. Not enough superhero elements.

When I watched Krrish the first time, I too echoed the same sentiments. I wanted to see more action scenes and superhero elements, not the usual run of the mill romantic comedy. I was disappointed. Then when I watched it the second time, this time without expecting a superhero film, I realised it's not suppose to be a superhero film; it is the beginning of a superhero

4. Krrish is a hybrid of other superheros films and copies plot elements.

Superhero films are quite a predictable genre and share many similarities. They are the classic tale of good vs evil, where the hero is super-good and the villain is super-evil(often a megalomaniac with designs to take over the world) and the film builds to the final face-off, where good will invariably triumph. Superman follows the exactly the same story arc; so does Batman; so does Spiderman; and yes, so does Krrish.

Another similarity is that the superhero-ego will often be incognito and not reveal their true identity, except to a select few. You see this in Superman; Spiderman and Batman; so, you also see it in Krrish. Again, because the superhero is mysterious, they become the talk of the world and the the press become obsessed with them and in unveiling their identity. You see this in Superman; Spiderman and Batman; so you see it in Krrish.

Krrish is as original and unoriginal as any superhero film. If you can accept that Superman is not a copy of Spiderman and Spiderman is not a copy of Batman. Then you should be able to accept that Krrish is not a copy of either of them and stands as an original work.

5. Krrish is just the usual Bollywood potboiler, with songs and dances, comedy, melodrama and colours.

So are 99.9% of Bollywood films. This is the unique Bollywood identity and film-making heritage and make no mistake about it, Krrish is an all-out Bollywood film, made for mass consumption by Bollywood fans.

Krrish is a very commendable and well-made film, an all out-entertainer, with plenty of cool action and special effects, but with it's heart in it's story of Krishna becoming Krrish(played admirably by Hrithik Roshan) It's also a historic milestone in Indian film-making, and will be to Indian cinema, what Superman was to American cinema. Expect the sequel to even bigger.

An impressive and world-class entry by Bollywood to the fantastic world of sci-fi and fantasy. I look forward to more such films from Bollywood. In fact, as I write , another Bollywood director is in the preproduction phase of a big budget futuristic sci-fi romance set in 2050 India, and not an ordinary love story, it's the love story between a robot and a human!

This movie is extremely predictable. Thats an irony because a significant part of the plot is about building some computer that can predict the future and heres the audience doing exactly the same in relevance to the plot. Overall, its nothing great but a warm fuzzy, feel good movie for the most part. The songs sucked. The jumping sequences range from utterly fake to decently implemented but the guy shaking his hands and legs during jumping and also executing so many moves while in mid-air, looked pretty dumb, irrespective if someone taking long jumps would actually do that and they don't. The heroine proves that she cant act for nuts but was at least better than the horrible one in Koi Mil gaya.