One walks into a superhero film wanting to be overwhelmed. Tall order indeed! After all, in how many different ways can a superhero save the world? The template is more the less the same in all superhero films. It is just the treatment that tells a winner from the loser. So is Krrish 3 a winner or a loser?
Krishna (Hrithik Roshan) is living a peaceful life with his wife Priya (Priyanka Chopra) and father Rohit (Hrithik again of course). Or as peaceful as life can be for the friendly neighbourhood superhero with one crisis or the other not letting him hold down a job for more than a few days. Enters Kaal (Vivek Oberoi), a wheelchair-bound genius with a penchant for creating mutants from his own DNA. His chief mutant is the shape-shifting Kaaya (Kangana Ranaut) who helps him terrorise the world by injecting hapless people with the virus created by him. And one fine day Rohit comes up with the antidote to Kaal’s virus. Then starts the fight between good and evil.
The two prequels to Krrish 3 were a good mix of visual spectacle and human drama. Director Rakesh Roshan tries to follow same formula here too but while he gets the visual spectacle right, he fails in creating characters one can care for. The screenplay is quite poor and doesn’t let one feel anything for the protagonists, neither happy at their joy nor sad at their tragedies. With no novelty in terms of story or story-telling, the whole burden of keeping the film going comes down on the special effects and action pieces. No complaints there! The film is a visual treat for the majority of its screentime. However, some of the scenes that do not require any VFX are downright shoddy in terms of production values. It is surprising to see world-class special effects and B-grade crowd scenes together in one film. More astonishing is to hear such mediocre music in a Rakesh Roshan movie. The tacky song sequences could have been totally done away with.
Krrish 3 does score in creating good villains. And then loses it with a hero who is plain bland. While the sinewy muscles and shiny costume help make Krish look interesting to an extent, without the mask Krishna is sickeningly sweet and without any personality whatsoever. Add to that the too-earnest Rohit and the giggly Priya, and one feels relieved whenever the villains show up. Especially Kaaya who owns the film whenever she is on screen. So much so that one wishes that it was her story instead. Kaal too is a spine-chilling presence and his mutants some of the most interesting side-kicks seen in Hindi cinema.
So what should have been Hrithik’s vehicle ends up belonging to the Kangana and Vivek since he is not able to rise above the mediocre material written for him. Priyanka has nothing much to do except play the damsel in distress. With below-par acting by almost the entire cast and underwhelming drama, it is up to the VFX team to provide the thrills and they rise up to the challenge magnificently. Krrish 3 is an exhilarating cinematic experience during those scenes and they alone are worth the price of the ticket.
This is not the path-breaking film it could have been but worth a watch for its technical finesse. If nothing else, you will surely come back mesmerised by Ms. Ranaut’s shimmering charms.
