KANK - Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna

I have been waiting for the movie for quite some time. An awesome star cast, Karan Johar's movie after almost 5 years, great music all added to the expectations.
Before I entered the theatres, I had heard the negative reports but I was undeterred and went in with a lot of enthusiasm.

KANK is no typical Karan Johar film... Well, it depends on how you classify a typical Karan Johar film :). Great locales, awesome clothes, lavish sets, star special appearances and good music can be seen in KANK as in any other K film. But what make it different are the concept and the lead characterizations.

Performances are top class especially Abhishek's. Now I am a fan of SRK, but I have to admit he is getting old and age shows on his face. Performance wise I couldn't figure out if that’s the way Karan wanted SRK's character to turn out. I started hating SRK from the first scene where SRK meets Rani even though he's supposed to be cool in that scene :). Rani's done a good job although she just has to use gallons of glycerine in the movie. Preity's a commendable job but again, she looks old and needs to watch her weight. Amitabh is good and Kirron Kher needs to cut down that overacting. But the show stealer is undoubtedly the Junior B who makes Rishi so adorable.

The movie also has some interesting special appearances. Arjun Rampal as Preity's boss doesn’t have much to do, except look good, which he does best. John Abraham in 'Where’s the party tonight?' is an apt DJ. My favourite (no prizes for guessing) is Kajol in "Rock n Roll Soniye". She just rocks.

The music is great and choreography is good too but nothing novel. You start liking the songs even more after watching the movie. I personally didn't like the colour-coordinated song "Tumhi Dekho Na".

So you think I liked the movie? Hey I am not done with the review yet :). A 3 hr 40 mins movie requires a long review na ;).

There may be a few people who think that the concept is flawed. Maybe it is from the view of the conservative Indians, but it’s not something that does not exist.

Karan has come a long way in KANK. If you thought the scenes of Saif and SRK in Kal Ho Na Ho were outrageous, you surely can't stand Amitabh's character. Very Crass. I was shocked, when a 7 year old kid in a row behind us, repeated the line where SRK shows a book to a passerby and the passerby retorts.

The major flaw according to me is the lead characterization. Not one moment do you empathize with SRK or Rani neither are you able to feel the passion between them. You feel sorry for Preity and Abhishek. You start liking them so much that you don't feel for the emotions of SRK and Rani. I didn’t like the end too because, the people responsible for breaking so many hearts walk away happily. I hated the scene where SRK and Rani try to make each other jealous by playing with the emotions of Abhishek and Preity. Although there's a subsequent scene where Rani feels guilty of it, its too emotionless.
For a person who thought Rahul of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is selfish, KANK is a selfish story about two selfish people.

The other problem is the length of the movie. It just goes on and on. Every scene is so long that you tend to lose your concentration at the end of the scene. But Karan can't do anything about it. Its like this review... Long but if you try to cut something off, it looks like it won't make any sense :).

Its a passable film, but not a movie the thoughts of which you can bring back home, not a movie you would want to watch with your family.

Karan has grown, no doubt... but I wish he could have with some maturity.

My verdict: Average (5/10).

Disclaimer: The above review is solely based on personal opinion. :)