I think I have lost it or maybe I have become too cynical about everything. I don’t see anything good in any creation or may be what I was feeling was just so right. Its 2.30 and I have just come back from the paid preview of “Kurbaan” from Cinemax and I am still under a strange shock. I have some questions swimming in my cerebro-spinal fluid. The most prominent one is one of the eternal ones. Why?
Dostana was a blatant copy of “I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry” yet it was funny and was frothy light hearted fun. Karan’s long time assistant Tarun Mansukhani made a fundamentally funny film and adorned it with some gay overtones and Priyanka’s golden swim suit and hot pants made a kill at the box office.
Wake Up Sid was a regular affair but a sweet coming of age film with the innocence portrayed by effervescent yet lazy Ranbir Kapoor and maturity played by Konkana. Ayan Mukherjee made quite an impression with a semi-honest thought.
And then came Kurbaan, one from the Johar stable which hardly had anything Joharesque in it. Neither it was a light hearted fun film nor it was that slice of life which people have tasted at some Juncture of their life. Kurbaan made me think – Why?
Rensil D’Silva was touted as a hot shot story teller after he wrote Rang De Basanti but he is not Rakeysh Mehra. Rensil is a copy guy and unfortunately it did not show in his strangely verbose film.
Kurban is a single line story. A Muslim boy woos a Green Card holder girl to get entry to the US of A, wherein he meets his gang of terrorists which is planning a mission to bomb the subway stations, but with his Green card holder wife and yet to be born baby in toe, he has a change of heart so he sacrifices his life saving them and humanity. Yawn! I know. I felt the same.
Very few people who have seen Rang De Basasnti know that the original plot and story of the film was written by Veteran Kamlesh Pandey (he wrote the most acidic film till date “Tezaab”) and then Rensil with Rakeysh developed the screenplay and dialogues. I was one of the fortunate ones who had read it in its second draft and after reading I had said that if they can make what the script is, this will become a film which will change the language of Indian cinema. Mind you, Aamir wasn’t signed till that time.
For some reason, Karan had this faith in Rensil who wrote the screenplay of Karan’s story and directed Kurbaan. Unfortunately, the story teller had no story to tell and hence there is no “Hero’s journey” or “normal people in extra-ordinary circumstances” to save the film.
Anurag Kashyap and Nirajan Iyengar, a strange combo has written the dialogues of the film, which are genuinely forgettable. Anurag bhai, we are all your fans, what happened to you?
Saif was looking distracted in the movie, I don’t know why? He did some scenes brilliantly but the screenplay did not allow the character to evolve at all. In the beginning of the film when he starts to flirt with kareena and is sincerely wooing her, you feel delight from within and hope for a chemistry which is rarity. The screenplay weakness comes to play and all of a sudden, he turns in to a cold blooded terrorist and within a few moments also develops a dilemma. Knowing the heightened emotions in each scene is Karan’s style, this underplay failed me totally. Saif’s catharsis is funny because it is neither subtle nor over the top but it is hanging in between not being able to evoke any sympathy or hatred.
Kareena looks edible and is gorgeous to the core. Her lip locks really gives everyone goose bumps and she looks hot when she bares her back and makes love to Saif. The intimate scene was shot beautifully and erotically at the same time. Apart from that, I don’t know what she was doing in the film. Her role could have been played by any other actor and it would have made no difference. Vivek Oberoi was not required in the film. They could have made the film with any other actor and he would have delivered a better performance. He did show occasional sparks of brilliance but were not enough to sharpen his character.
Then you also have Om Puri, Kirron Kher, Nauheed Cyrusi and a lot of desi-videsi crew which had no idea of what was going on in the script. A few good things about the film are : music is outstanding though none of the songs make any impression visually so a wasted album. Cinematography was top class but had a strangely scripted film to shoot, hence even a dope head also can’t do anything about it.
I did not like the film because : Very weak story, equally weak screen play and dialogues were barely survivable. First half hour was totally wasted in establishing facts which were no use in the film ahead. Story had continuity issues and they defy logic for otherwise touted as a fairly logical film. Kareena goes back to NY to pursue her job but once they land up in NY, Kareena has never set foot on any campus to teach. The revelation that there are staunch Muslims living nearby is handled deftly but unfortunately Nauheed breaks in to this strange monologue at a crucial juncture not letting the tension build up. The amount of faith she puts in Kareena after just one dinner is an amazingly inaccurate portrayal. Even in the later half when the action heats up, Vivek Oberoi who poses as a Staunch Muslim in one or two scenes decides to take part in terrorist activities to do an expose but the transformation is handled so amateurishly that the none of the moments show the edgy side of a normal man turning terrorists. If anyone remembers Raakh done by Aamir where he decides to take revenge on his girlfriend’s rapists and how, from being a simple man to someone who wants to become a gun totting fellow. That transformation was genuinely amazing. Vivek doesn’t rise to that level because the scene was not handled cleverly.
Kurbaan is flawed. On story level, on screen play level and on narrative level too. Acting was just about ok despite of having stalwarts like Om Puri and Kirron Kher playing important roles. Music is really good and Salim Sulaiman come out with some real soulful melodies. Shukran Allah is already on the charts, the other two tracks Ali Maula and Dua are well placed in the film, yet do not evoke any emotions.
I would rate the film at 2 out of 5. Watch it once for the erotic song Rasiya, half a dozen lip locks, Kareena’s bare back and the love making scenes, for the rest you can Kurbaan your money….
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