Friday, March 05, 2010

A close call

So last night, Viv, Pizzadude and I watched ‘Karthik Calling Karthik’. Initially, I had shown absolutely no interest in the movie in spite of my love for Farhan Akhtar (as a director mostly) because I really really can’t stand Deepika (especially when she opens her mouth to speak) and when I saw her say, “I toh can’t even imagine...” in the KCK trailer, I just wanted to throw my shoe at her.

However, Viv and I were both going to be working late and decided to go for a late show. Pizzadude had earlier asked me if I wanted to go and I’d declined, so I thought I’d do a quick check if he wanted to catch a late show too. Turns out he was in the gym (Shabash puttar, naam roshan kar ditta!) and could join us. I’d already bought tickets, but he managed to book a seat next to us (yes, that’s how empty the theatre was. Sad.)

Random thoughts after watching the movie (spoilers ahead)...

  • In spite of the reviews I had read and heard, I must say I really liked the movie. Though it was not a thriller in the true sense; I always knew the 'who', but it was the 'how' that kept me glued. Hadn't figured that the phone instrument would be so, er, instrumental in the plot. (Viv claims he knew everything from the start. Hmph!)

  • The rediff review asks, "Why does he hint out the suspense so early in the film?" I kind of agree, but I don't see another way in which it could have been handled as delicately without making the audience go, "Humko bewakoof samjha hai? Naalaayak!" or "This was suspense? Nonsense!" I guess they went for the more straightforward, no-pretence approach.

  • The first half was rather tame, though Karthik's transformation was somewhat fun to watch. But towards the second half, the movie got really chilling.

  • The length of the movie was just right. The intermission was at a perfect point too, making me go, "WHAT?! NOW?! NOOOOO! COME BACK!!"

  • Okay, Deepika wasn't THAT irritating, which was a relief.

  • Loved Deepika's office outfits.

  • Good music. I especially like the title song where the girl says rather eerily, 'Karthik... Karthik calling Karthik'.

  • The background score was even better. Especially the scenes with the phone calls where the music imitated his (and sometimes the audience's) rapidly escalating heartbeat.

  • Thank goodness Farhan decided not to sing in this one. After 'Croak On', I really don't want to listen to him ruining perfectly good songs.

  • When I first read about the movie, I looked at how they had spelt ‘Karthik’ (with an 'h') and kept wondering why they would make Farhan play a South Indian, and how much he could and would screw it up. (I think I can safely say that the only non-South-Indian actor in the history of cinema who has successfully played a South Indian is Konkona Sen Sharma in ‘Mr. and Mrs. Iyer’.) Luckily his being Karthik instead of Kartik had no significance in the movie. (Viv is still arguing with me about how I can assume he was a South Indian just because of how his name was spelt. Sheesh. Karthik Narayan. Come on, dude!)

  • Totally loved the part where he's trying to escape from himself by going 'blind'.

  • I thought his landlord was the Ghajini fella and I was like, "Dude, how much weight have you lost?" Turns out this is a different guy (the dad in Taare Zameen Par). And I'm not the only one who got confused.

  • Farhan is an exact copy of his dad. There's a scene of him sleeping where he looks EXACTLY like Javed Akhtar.

  • I thought 'the other dude has a wife' was such a lame and convenient excuse for Karthik to get the girl, but figured later why it had to be that way.

  • Looks like apna Kamesh Mahadevan will never grow old. He stills looks the same as he did in Munnabhai MBBS and Shanti. Pity he changed his name from 'Yatin' to 'Yateen Karyekar', sounding dangerously close to 'Yateem'. Bet his parents weren't too happy about that.

  • Speaking of changing spelling, 'Shifaali Chhaya'? Why? Why? Why?

  • Karthik buying the second phone in the same brand made me wonder why on earth he did that, but it sure added to the creepy darkness of the movie.

  • Farhan does all right in most scenes, and excelling in some. Rock On had been a poor copy of Dil Chahta Hai, but he has redeemed himself with this one, both in terms of the uniqueness of the movie and his acting. I just hope this movie is not a copy, please please?

  • The movie was quite scary in parts. I actually had tears of fear (yes, there IS such a thing!) in my eyes when the phone kept ringing even after he had unhooked it, when the doorbell rang, and when Dr. Kapadia picked up the phone. Brrrr....

  • The movie will keep you thinking the next day, and every now and then you'll go, "Ohhhh that's why!!"

  • Whatever said and done, Farhan's role could have been done by anyone. Would have been nice to see Ranbir in this. Then Deepika would have refused to be in the movie and we'd have had someone better. Muahaha!

  • Good work, Farhan. But seriously, we really need you to get back to directing. That is what you do best.



21 comments:

The Soul of Alec Smart said...

Hain na! It was a good movie.. see SOMEONE agrees with me.. it's not just because I am so Akhtar-smitten.

But.. but.. how could you miss mentioning about the boss (Ram Kapoor) - he was just so unbearably fake as a tyrant cum boss. Surely, it wasn't a good idea right casting him right after his avatar as the Rakhi Ka Swayamwar host.

~ Lopa said...

Excellent post and review....

I love reading your posts on movies...hehehe
They describe so flawlessly, thought process one will pass while watching it.... :)

Last but not the least, Gold, Silver, Bronze.....hehehahahaha

Sanchit said...

Croak On ???
* sniff *
* sniff *

Geomon said...

Bhai, I agree with most of the movie except that Farhan had both schizophrenia and Dual identity disorder(a common confusion). To top it he 'tops' IIM(wow,huh?) but still lands up at a lousy construction company. Then he seamlessly transforms into this dude guy in his original 'phattu' avatar. I liked the movie too. Just that it was so close to being perfect, then disappointed.

Baatein unkahi si said...

I'll come back later again to comment because I am planning to watch it this weekend.So skipped reading your post for now

Soumya said...

So someone else apart from me had the confusion between Ghajini and ishaan's dad? :-)

I felt the movie was good, but the schizo part completely ruined it for me.. They should have come up with something better..

And comeon Farhan looks sooooo hot! Please don't let him stick to direction alone... I'd love to watch more of him.. :-).. And yeah, we share similar thoughts regarding Deepika.. My hometown girl..

Nandini said...

I strongly protest your take on Rock On which was nothing short of sheer genius. Farhan Akhtar is magic and that "croak" is a perfect rockstar voice. OI.

(Now if he would only start treating the women in his movies a little more like proper people than stereotyped second-fiddles I would be fidaaaaaaaa.)

Navya said...

Ok, 3 things:

1. “I toh can’t even imagine...”
2. 'Croak On' - He even 'sang' on TV shows when he came for this movie's promotion. Why oh why !!
3. he looks EXACTLY like Javed Akhtar

Flawless resemblance of thoughts here :D

Serendipity said...

ewww no no @Ranbir doing this role.His face never ends and Deepikas never starts

Jil Jil Ramamani said...

Dude, you are now making me want to watch the movie!

Arun said...

The movie will keep you thinking the next day, and every now and then you'll go "Ohhhh that's why!!"

Unless they're used to it, such occurrences must be fairly alarming to the significant other. Imagine, at random intervals, hearing for no apparent reason, "Ohhh that's why!" :)

Vaga Bond said...

nice review! will definitely watch the movie.
And the resemblance between Pradeep Rawat and Vipin sharma is really surreal

Neha said...

Haina!!!! I used to argue with my husband that the Ghajini guy and the Tare Zameen par guy are the same!
And Deepika...she looks good. Dresses better. And thats all about her.
Farhan is good...but his croak irritates me too many times!
His siter...have you seen her? She looks just like female Farhan Akhtar!

Yet to watch this movie though..

Swathy said...

Bhai,
u wont believe thins..[or may be you will!!]
We went to watch KCK,literally travellling around 50 Km across the city, scrapping through the traffic,cursing at the counter ppl for being soooo slow...and enter the 12 noon show just-on time to find..
IT IS JUST THE 2 OF US!!
:D
even I felt it was a great movie,
and being the only ppl in the theate added to the eerines!!:P

BUT seriously melbourne s desi crowd .. what wrong with you guys??this movie is much better than so much rubbish thrown at our faces in the name of 'hindi movie'

Also bhai,The other person I loved as a south Indian was Shabana Aazmi in 'morning raga'!!

Anonymous said...

"Viv claims he knew everything from the start..."
Same here. I said he had MPD before the interval.

"The landlord..."
Okay I didn't know that either :P

"Farhan's role could have been done by anyone"
If a certain Mr. Roshan would've been in it, the title would've been
'Hrithik calling Hrithik' :D

Shoba Sharat said...

>> Would have been nice to see Ranbir in this. Then Deepika would have refused to be in the movie and we'd have had someone better >>

Totally agree! I hate Deepika after watching her in that new-mile-sur avatar..shucks! In btw,did you catch the Filmfare awards nite? Awaiting a post on that too ;)

Shoba Sharat said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
kkn said...

Whoever was padukone's designer did the best job in the film.

Sayesha said...

#The Soul of Alec Smart,
Yeah I liked it!! :) And Ram Kapur... he used to be so dashing when he was thin. His wife is still so hot, he SHOULD get back in shape!!

#~Lopa,
Thanks. :P

#Sanchit,
You like Farhan's singing? :P

#Geomon,
Yeah there were plenty of loopholes (I also wondered why on earth he would buy the same model again!!) but overall, it was very entertaining. :)

#Dil se,
Watched it? :D

#soumya,
Hahaha! But we're missing out of a lot of well-directed movies!!

#Nandini,
Hahahaha! Have you heard him sing live? Besuraaaaaaaaaaaa. :P

#crazy,
:D

#Serendipity,
Hahaha! :D

#Jil Jil Ramamani,
Watched it? :)

#Arun,
Hahaha! Viv is now very used to it! :p

#Vaga Bond,
:)

#N,
Yeah the whole khandaan has the same face man!! :)

#Swathy,
Only two people in the theatre??? Did you jump out of your skin when the phone rang after he had pulled the plug??? :O
Ooh I haven't seen Morning Raga, should catch that sometime. :)

#Shaiz,
I like Hrithik calling Hrithik. :D

#Shoba,
Oh yes I saw the FF awards. Fell off my chair when I saw Shashi Kapoor! I was thinking of doing a post on it, but wasn't sure if a lot of bewdas would have watched it. :)

#kkn,
Hehehe... true. Well, she has a great body so everything she wore looked good. :)

Sanchit said...

:) :) :) that is one of my fav hindi albums of all times... SEL created a rock masterpiece that can stand against any etablished international rock band..
the "rock on" album reached an international 13th spot on iTunes store and is one of the most sold album on itunes...
why u guys don like it :( :(
mummmy

Sayesha said...

#Sanchit,
Haha... I only like one song from the album and that's not even sung by him. It's Phir Dekhiye. :)

//why u guys don like it :( :(
mummmy

Hahahhaha! Viv likes the album, maybe not Farhu's singing so much... :P