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[Sharmila-Sweet]

Kurbaan Film Review [SPOILERS]

First things first. Kudos to Karan Johar for shifting gears completely and entering into serious territory. Of course, we do love him for his K-class cinema: all his crunchy popcorn films beginning with K, ever since Kuch Kuch Hota Hai redefined mainstream romance. But Kurbaan doesn't need the popcorn at all. It keeps the screen on overboil for most of its screen time with its hard-hitting storyline that dares to venture into undefined territory.

Like Khuda Kay Liye, Kurbaan too looks at the other side of Islamic fundamentalism and puts the post 9/11 tumult in perspective. Who are these guys who carry anger in their hearts, revenge in their heads and bombs in their pockets? Why are they hell bent on blasting the world, irrespective of the anguish it spells to all and sundry? Can there be a purpose behind their madness? Is one man's terrorist actually another man's activist? Kurbaan, written by Karan Johar, raises these pertinent - and extremely topical - questions, without glossing over the one undeniable truth: a suicide bomber can never solve the inequities of the world, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, notwithstanding.

So we have Ehsan Khan (Saif Ali Khan), the Pakistani who lost his wife and kid to American excesses, seething with a desire to avenge his loss. He isn't the archetypal, skull-capped, bearded fundoo, mouthing soliloquies on jihad and intifada (uprising). On the contrary, he's suave, sophisticated and a charmer, tutoring the world on the misconceptions of Islam in the modern world. Small wonder then he manages to win the heart of college professor Avantika (Kareena Kapoor) and follows her to New York on her stint with NYU. But the domestic idyll is short-lived as Avantika soon discovers it isn't her neighbours (the Afghani extended family, headed by Om Puri) alone who have suspicious antecedents. Husband Ehsan too is an integral part of the plot to bomb America for its excesses against Muslims, the world over.

In a classroom sequence, the film tries to put Islamic fundamentalism in perspective by linking the rise of the Muslim terrorist to America's oil-grabbing foreign policy and its questionable attempts at destabilising oil rich countries in order to remain a superpower. Almost every member of the sleeper cell that comprises the Afghan family has a sad story of loss and horror that drove them into becoming fidayeens (suicide bombers). And before you begin to question the filmmakers for going too lenient on terrorism, you find Avantika who remains a non-convert till the very end. Articulating the voice of reason - and non-violence - she questions her husband and oscillates between love and hate for the man who has fathered her child. A prisoner in her own house, her only hope is Riyaaz (Viveik Oberoi), the undercover journalist who has his story of personal loss that pitches him on the other side in this war. He is determined to fight the terrorists and derail their plot of bombing America.

Karan Johar's story has gravitas. Renzil D'Silva's narrative keeps you on the edge of the seat, for most of the time. Salim Suleiman's music score has a melodious feel. Hemant Chaturvedi's cinematography serenades both Delhi, where the Saif-Kareena romance blossoms and New York, where it cracks up. And the performances by almost all the lead characters are gritty. If Om Puri paints a chilling picture of the terrorist who masquerades in the garb of the commoner and Kiron Kher makes the myth of a suicide bomber plausible, then Viveik Oberoi lends credibility to the voice of the progressive Muslim. But it is the chemistry between Saif and Kareena that lights up the film as the duo bring to life a picture of passion and restraint as the doomed lovers. We do however wish their relationship had a stronger emotional graph, post the startling revelation. How did the duo contend with the fear, hate and disillusion that crept in after Saif revealed his true identity: a bit more on that? And a bit less in the length of the film which could do with some taut editing in the second half. Also, there are a few inconsistencies that mar the film's realism. Why does the FBI loom large like a know-it-all, do-it-all figure? Not only do the FBI sleuths always be a step ahead of the terrorists and arrest them without actually knowing who they exactly are, they also emerge unscathed in a suicide bombing attacking where almost everybody crumbles. Super Uncle Sam, did we say!
But Kurbaan sure does strike a chord and sets you thinking on stuff that needs to be sorted out before the new world order - a more humanitarian, less violent - sets in. Don't miss it.

A word about

Performances: Saif and Kareena transport their off screen tuning to the big screen. While their passionate encounters are a class in aesthete, their delineation of Ehsan and Avantika is mature, restrained and realistic. Om Puri, Kiron Kher and Viveik Oberoi are in sync too.
Music: While Salim-Suleiman have come up with an entire audio track which fits in with the ambience of the film, it is Shukran Allah and the title track, Kurbaan Hua which have lingering notes. More importantly, the songs blend in seamlessly with the story and have not been filmed as your run-of-the-mill song-dance numbers.

Dialogue: The conversation amidst the diverse protagonists has a realistic edge and seem straight out of life. It's only when he tries to explain the theoretical basis of Islamic fundamentalism that Anurag Kashyap, dialogue writer, seems to enter the realm of text-book knowledge. The exposition seems a rattling of newspapers headlines.

Story: Karan Johar explores new depths with his insightful story on the world's most pressing problem: terrorism.

Cinematography: Hemant Chaturvedi uses his camera deftly to create stunning vignettes of Delhi and New York, without losing out on the seriousness of the plot.

Styling: Kareena looks svelte in dresses and tights and brings to life a glamorous professor who dons the hijab with equal felicity. Saif is his usual dapper self, making casual seem haute.


TOI

[Romuz]

RAVAAN
ROBIN HOOD MEETS APOCALYPSE NOW COURTSEY

Aishwariya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Vikram, Govinda,Ravi Kishen, Priyamani
Director: Mani Ratnam
Music: A.R Rehman

Review by: Dr Usman Khawaja


What is the problem with Bolly scripts, as here a man like Ratnam takes movies like “Gangajal", "Jungle" and Hollywood classics like 'Apocalypse Now' mixing it is a mish mash of action and silly stunts and packages it with pseudo artistic visuals from Coppola's war epic as billowing smoke stands in for mist.

Anyway Vikram is a good cop, married to Aishwariya and they are posted in a lawless Indian rural paradise much like" Gangajal " which is ruled by a gangster cum robin hood Abishek Bachchan as Beera, and he is both Ravaan and ram all in one while Aishwariya Rai as Sita is still married to the real ram Vikram is a stand in for Ram.

I am really confused here as I think this akin to making Ganges flow backwards but than anything goes and after a lot of action stunts, songs and we end up on a suspension bridge for the climax thanks to Indiana Jones.

Never mind as Aishwariya Rai gets loads of sequences which just require running and jumping in Indian hinterland with no dramatic requirements, while Abhishek Bachchan is a joker as “Raavan" who plays it like a clownish big hearted Heath ledger, and the whole pulpy vision is just a borrowed bonanza , where Vikram is the only performer who breathes some air in this dead horse, but fails to flag it still in the fuzzy visuals with mystical mists enshrouding the screen in a paradox of obscure origins.

Cops and gangsters and heart of gold robbers mix with untouchables, who rob the rich and there is enough plunder and gruesome killings to appease any sadistic masochist, while A.R Rehman composes an unusual score which is not synchronised with the milieu of a thriller and interrupts the narrative as does the redundant leading lady who looks uncomfortable between the husband as hero and the great hearted villain on the periphery as a toy boy.

Abishek Bachchan looks as un-winsome as Ravaan, with some extremely bizarre getups, and is overshadowed by Vikram in every aspect from action to talent, and he tries to give a edgy paranoid look which unfortunately misfires.

Ratnam who made Yuva and Dilse and Bombay here is laden with a banal script with a laconic cat and moose game played in a forest which is very similar to R.G.varma's Jungle, and "Coppola's Apocalypse Now, but not a fraction as interesting, and the climax on a suspension bridge suspend all brief and is inadvertently hilarious.

This is not entertainment or art it is pulp mixed with trash packaged with shamelessly stolen visuals and it does no favours to Ramayana in its lousy duration of 2 hors and 20 minutes with a paranoid narrative with misty forests and green ravines and a lush middle aged, Aishwariya trying to desperately cope with two men she obviously is not very fond of in reality or onscreen too.

Mr. Ratnam please go back to real actors like Ajay Devgan and Manisha koirala and turn out something with an original script with some credible gimmicks rather than the falling bodies of aishwariya and a diving Beera.

A rather sullen and desynchronised, somewhat stylised version of so called Ramayana borrowed from multiple sources.

Rating: 3/10