As I walked into the cinema today, a feeling of euphoria fell over me. I realized how hungry I was for a Hindi movie. And it didn’t matter today, good or bad, waste of time or not, the drought that was the multiplex strike had come to an end, and my thirst for a Bollywood flick had been quenched…or so I thought. It was Kal Kissne Dekha that had come to my rescue and was first to release post the film-strike. The awaited film was all set to work as a launch vehicle for producer Vashu Bhagnani’s son, Jackky Bhagnani and newcomer Vaishali Desai. In the last few days leading up to the films release, director Vivek Sharma and producer Vashu Bhagnani have publicly been at loggerheads regarding fees and publicity for the film. This has kept the film in the media eyes—for the wrong reasons of course. Jackky has claimed in many interviews, that he has had to struggle to gain some credibility in his father’s eyes in order to become an actor. After much shuffle with release dates, the day has finally arrived where the newbie will finally display his talents to the world. So, will Kal Kissne Dekha see the daylight of tomorrow? Or will you leave the cinema wishing you hadn’t seen this one at all?
The story begins as a college love story which follows young Nihal Singh (Jackky Bhagnani) from Chandigarh. As the young lad walks into a popular college in Mumbai, he immediately falls in love with the snooty Misha (Vaishali Desai) who believes that the Punjabi-munda is “totally uncool” and behaves like an ultimate diva as she bosses her help and father around the house. Nihal also possesses a power, seeing the future — similar to that in Aa Dekhe Zara and Tasveer, and one day uses his power to save his lady love when she is stuck in a bomb scare situation. From there on, their love story begins and additionally, his science professor (Rishi Kapoor) takes him under his wing. Unknown to Nihal, the professor is on his way to organizing a series of bomb blasts, a la 26/11, which he unknowingly becomes a part of. Needless to say, Nihal comes to the city’s rescue and saves the day, earns the respect of his peers and wins the heart of his lady love. Amongst the mayhem, you are treated to a few special appearances which include Sanjay Dutt, Juhi Chawla, Ritiesh Deshmukh and the enormously talented Slumdog Millionaire children.
Director Vivek Sharma’s next offering is a let down after Bhootnath. Sharma has claimed that he is yet to see a final version of the film, and perhaps to the producers benefit, it may have helped to edit some unnecessary scenes. But even then, with such weak and plot-less script, it is too hard to help this movie at all. Perhaps it was a change in genre which has the director confused? Bhootnath being more emotional and sensitive, while KKD switches between being a love story and an action-thriller film — clearly not his forte. The locales shine and are shot impeccably but do not help the actors or the script move forward.
The film has definitely proved one thing; Jackky Bhagnani can dance, fight, and ride a horse. But the millionaire dollar question is: can he act? In all honesty, he does have a spark that if correctly utilized can do wonders. However, there are some scenes where the actor has over-performed and he definitely needed to pipe down the dialogue delivery. That said, the prospective actor can dance well, and does an apt job in the other departments. Vaishali Desai too shows promise but the script leaves no scope for the potential actress to really showcase any budding talent. For the most part, she looks much like the model she is in real life. Rishi Kapoor is a complete misfit and in fact, looked ultra uncomfortable in his villainous avatar.
Jackky is the ray of light in a film that has no real foundation — and yes, he does bare some resemblance to Uday Chopra. But the saving grace of the film is the good music courtesy of Sajid-Wajid and the choreography of the songs. Additionally, the cameos are interesting too.
And so, I walk out of the cinema dejected. It seems that audiences will have to wait for a good film to release in the coming weeks to fill the filmy void we all seem to be missing. Kal Kissne Dekha does not do much to help Bollywood buffs. Take my word; give KKD a miss today and kal.
