"Koi Jaane Na" is an alumnus get together for "Rang De Basanti", with Kunaal Kapoor leading the cast, and Aamir Khan and Atul Kulkarni appearing in cameo roles. The film begins with a promise - Kunal Kapoor plays Kabir Kapoor, an inspirational writer with one bestseller under his belt, but suffering from a writer's block that prevents him from finishing the promised sequel for which he has taken a handsome advance payment. But he doubles up as a pulp fiction author (with Zaraan Khan as the fictional mercenary) under a different name to get away from legal issues, and moonlights as a vigilante. Quite a handful for an individual, I must admit.
Whilst all this is explained in the first 20 minutes and we expect the film to go down the vigilante route like Batman or Shahenshah, Koi Jaane Na takes a somersault and hurtles down an altogether different route. It throws a Googly - Kabir starts romancing a young, Bohemian girl Suhana (Amyra Dastur) who he befriends on his journey to Panchgani to rediscover his writing skills. It's no ordinary love story - it's one peppered with a couple of murders, Zaraan Khan coming to life, mannequins and masks popping out of hidden chambers, a seductive housemaid with no oomph whatsoever, and a dubious blackmailing effort by a couple of comical characters who try their level best to appear menacing. The result is that whilst you were expecting the pace bowler to charge you with a heady fast ball, you get a Doosra - and you don't know what to do with it. It takes a strange turn where the focus shifts from Kabir and trains itself on Suhana, thus making a lot of what was essayed earlier redundant and slowly but steadily, becoming grossly predictable. The climax is aimed to be kept open ended for interpretation, but it's underwhelming and lacking the punch it deserved.
You may have heard mixed reviews of Koi Jaane Na, but the film failed to make its mark with me as I felt cheated. There are innumerable loose ends, tacky editing and poor performances galore. Roles of Vidya Malavade, Near Mahajan and Achint Kaur are extremely poorly etched out, and Kunaal Kapoor and Amyra Dastur make a lightweight couple. The only person who does some justice to the role is Ashwini Kalsekar as the investigating police officer.
