Kambakkth Ishq explores the relationship between two individuals so chalk-and-cheesely different from each other that no matter how many times they are pushed together, there’s just fireworks … no fire. Viraj Shergill (Akshay Kumar) is a swashbuckling stuntman in Hollywood who lives by the mantra “women are only good for two things … making love & making love”.
Simrita Rai (Kareena Kapoor) is a firebrand who is more than able to stare down the most arrogant male with her caustic wit and sardonic tongue ... her firm belief “all men are dogs” Forces of nature make sure the two people who hate each the most are thrown together in the most absurd, hilarious situations until one dramatic twist of fate binds the two together in a manner that they could never ever have even dreamed of in their wildest fantasies. If there ever was a marriage between the east and the west, a romantic comedy and Action, Hollywood and Bollywood … this would be it.
Kambakkht Ishq
Maxabout Review
Entertaining. Falls short of expectations.. .
Friday, July 03, 2009
Watching the promos and the huge hype the makers have managed to create about their film, your expectation levels are high when you enter but as you come out you do feel that it is nothing more than a dumb entertainer that tries to take you too much for granted. The film is a remake of the 2002 Tamil film Pammal K Sambandam. Kambakkht Ishq explores the relationship between two individuals who are extremely different from each other.
The movie boasts of some of the big names of Bollywood as well as Hollywood - Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Sylvester Stallone, Brandon Routh and Denise Richards! But the efforts to make an entertainment blockbuster have given only average results at best. The movie has been showcased as a fight between a Super Model Kareena and a Super Stuntsman Akshay who are representing their sexes as well. Nothing new on this front. In fact, this is a modern take on relationships, with the two hours divided between laughter and emotions, frivolous and reality. KAMBAKKHT ISHQ belongs to the same family of films which have wooed the masses, such as MUJHSE SHAADI KAROGI, WELCOME, SINGH IS KINNG and GOLMAAL RETURNS. The prime motive is to entertain you for the next 2 hours, logic be damned.
It is applause worthy job by debutante director Sabbir Khan to helm a film as huge, you sorely miss a David Dhawan who would have controlled the lunatic moments more effeciently. To give due credit, ‘Hollywood’ has been well incorporated by Sabbir in the film.
The movie is slightly above average but has not been able to live upto the hype. Kambakkht Ishq is one of the most lavish productions to come out of Bollywood no doubts about it. But despite involving four scriptwriters the film still falls short of the expectations where the promised wholesome entertainment is concerned. The focus is on the entertainment quotient. There are moments when you laugh so uncontrollably that it gets embarrassing and there are times when you continue smiling, even during the most ordinary scenes.
The film scores high in the technical department with cinematographer Vikas Sivaraman coming on tops. He has succeeded in imparting the film an international look. Each frame looks ostentatious and glitzy. Music is up to the mark, with three interesting tracks -- 'Om Mangalam' (RDB), 'Lakh Lakh' and 'Bebo' (Anu Malik). Cinematography (Vikas Sivaraman) is magnificent, with the DoP doing complete justice to the production values.
Many a times the thin line of acceptance has been crossed in the name of humour which makes it a difficult watch for the family audience. The first half breezes quickly but the second half slows down considerably. The serious turn taken though comes in with the flow of the film, it gets boring as you know it very well where it is all going to lead to.
KAMBAKKHT ISHQ dips in its second hour because you expect it to be as frivolous as the first hour, but it changes tracks and gets emotional.
Akshay Kumar is back in terrific form as a performer. He is simply superb in his award acceptance speech. Akshay is in terrific form here and delivers, without a shred of doubt, a bravura performance. If you loved him in NAMASTEY LONDON and SINGH IS KINNG, you'd fall in love with Akki and his comic timing all over again this time.
Kareena has never looked so hot before. She manages to put up her own against Akshay but is saddled by poor characterization, especially in the second half. Almost 80% of the time her character has been burdened with a permanent growl on the face. She left an indelible impression in JAB WE MET and creates a similar impact, albeit in a different role. Her role has shades of 'Poo' in K3G, but the glam looks combined with that rare confidence takes this performance to dizzy heights. Clearly, Kareena is miles ahead of her contemporaries as far as talent goes and this film proves it yet again.
Amrita Arora is cute as her dim wit friend. Aftab is passable. Kirron Kher is getting irritatingly repetitive. Boman Irani in a single scene appearance is hilarious but Javed Jaffrey grates on your nerves and its high time he realises that his ‘punny’ jokes don’t work every time. Vindoo Dara Singh as the dumb assist of Akshay is mirthful.
Amongst the Hollywood stars, Sylvester Stallone commands great screen presence but Denise Richards looks too old but she does enact her part well.
KAMBAKKHT ISHQ offers you value for time and also, value for money. It offers loads of entertainment in those 2 + hours, loads of glamour in those 130 odd minutes, from start to end. Sure, there are blemishes, but they're trivial when you look at the larger picture.