Zindagi Na Milegi Dobra | Seize The Moment, Dude | The Critique

Rating: 3/5

ZNMD... The title of the movie says it all. The USP of this movie from the day one were the three guys on the road trip. The promise they made to each other when they were still studying and had no idea what life had in store for them. Five minutes into the movie and you can see yourself on screen... moments when you were drunk and promised your friends that no matter what happen, you all will meet sometime ten years after college and go somewhere just to revive some old good memories.

The story of ZNMD is a one liner... friends meeting after ages to do some adventure that can freak them out. However there is much beyond the 'adventures' they take up to get rid of their fears. Infact, the real fear that freaks them out has nothing to do with these adventures. They get cured but not due to these tasks but due to the journey en-route. The movie is beyond the road trip in Spain. It’s about their trip with in their soul. Each of them wants someone tell him what he wants from life.

Abhay Deol is a business scion who proposes Kalki for marriage. Then he plans his pending 'road trip' with school friends Hrithik and Farhaan who had a small spat last time they planned the trip. Now in Spain they have surprise adventure for each other. Amidst one of these they meet Katrina whose angelic beauty grabbed attention of the two singles-Farhaan and Hrithik. And what happens on such trips usually remain a secret...

Acting: There is a brilliant cameo by someone whose name if spilled might ruin the entire thrill. Farhaan as an actor has evolved by leaps and bounds. He got the best character to play and he did justice to it. Any other actor (except for a certain Aamir Khan) would have been a misfit. Abhay Deol maintained his standard and Hrithik gave a 'pretty' convincing performance. Though at times he looked uncomfortable. Pardonable. Katrina gave a fine performance. She had a straight and simple role which she lived beautifully. Kalki... really nice in a 'chudail' kind of role.

Cinematography... Plus one. Really impressive. However I have this feeling that they went too conventional. A bit of more creative input could have done wonders. Music was good... just good. Script, dialogues and poetry... Respect is the word. And Zoya... keep directing. You have an amazing sense of story and presentation. This is a kind of movie which could have gone wrong very easily. Zoya and entire team just saved it.

PS: Don't miss the climax. It defines everything.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Karthik Calling Karthik movie review | Critique

Rating-***stars

After the gorgeous and dark opening credits, we meet Karthik, who is constantly bullied by every one around him from the landlord, to his colleagues, to his boss. The girl of his dreams(Deepika) doesn’t even know that he exists. In short, his life is miserable. He looses his job, and decides to end his life. He gets a call on his landline. From himself. Voice on the phone promises to help him change his life, for better.

Soon enough things begin to change. His life is back on track. What follows is a predictable but breezy first half that is great fun to watch. Karthik gets his girl. (Deepika steals the first half with her acting and charms.)

Post interval the movie is plot driven and starts getting darker. All along the audiences try to figure out what exactly is happening.In the scene when his psychiatrist visits him at his apartment, all guesses of audiences are proved wrong. This scene is the single best scene in the movie.

Performance wise all the actors have done very well. Farhan has exceptionally well on two areas: A) the scenes where he is scared audience can clearly feel his fear, B) The menace that he conveys just by his voice on the phone. Deepika is very charming and does full justice to her role, who wouldn’t fall for a character like hers. (By the way her dresses both formal and informal were gorgeous). Ram Kapoor (a very)has a small role of Karthik’s boss but his menace makes me wish I don’t get a boss like him, ever.

My guess for the premise of KCK after initial trailers proved right. Schizophrenia.

As for every good movie based on schizophrenia, all pieces have to fit in perfectly at the end. KCK succeeds excellently in this regard. Yes it has hints of ‘Beautiful Mind’ and ‘Fight Club’. It doesn’t really get to level of Beautiful Mind because the script shies away from taking risks. If it had taken risks chances are that it would have flopped but could have been better movie.

It is a small but smart film that is worthy of at least a single watch.

PS- Deepika is officially my favorite actress from now :-)

Written by Ali Naqvi.