But instead of playing the part of a devoted second wife to newspaper scion Dev Chaudhry (Aditya Roy Kapoor), she finds herself drawn to Husnabad’s seedier neighborhood of Hira Mandi, where an aging courtesan (Dixit) holds court teaching music. Roop, a bright and educated young woman from a struggling family in Husnabad, a fictional town outside Lahore, is persuaded/forced to marry into the town’s wealthiest family for an unusual reason: Their daughter-in-law Satya (an elegant Sonakshi Sinha) is dying, and she herself wants Roop to take her place after her death so that Roop can provide heirs to the family’s newspaper fortune. Tensions are growing between Hindus and Muslims in the run-up to the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan and although the characters don’t yet know that Partition will lead to up to two million deaths and 14 million displaced, the audience does, adding to a growing sense of anxiety. 'Gully Boy' ('Apna Time Aayega'): Film Review | Berlin 2019īased on a story by screenwriter Shibani Bathija, who wrote Karan Johar’s moving post-9/11 drama My Name Is Khan, and directed and written by Abhishek Varman, Kalank is set in 1945, at the tail end of British rule. Kalank’s cast, including A-listers Bhatt ( Gully Boy) and Varun Dhawan, and a highly anticipated reunion between 1990s screen pair Madhuri Dixit and Sanjay Dutt weren’t enough to pack theaters, and the film only made back around half of its steep production costs on its opening weekend.
Its story, its music and even its costumes are far subtler and more complex than the typical Bollywood fan might expect, while its richly drawn lead character, a headstrong and thoughtful young woman named Roop (Alia Bhatt), leaves a lasting impression long after the film’s two-and-a-half-hour running time. The genre of this film is tailor made for the likes of Sanjay Leila Bansali who would have worked on the screenplay/ dialogue and turned out a blockbuster.Kalank offers unexpected and welcome nuance for a mainstream Bollywood film. Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt have acted well while Madhuri Dikshit, Sanjay Dutt, Aditya Roy Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha have done bit roles in a pedestrian manner. Top stars are doing cameo parts.Ī word of praise for the well shot and edited climax and the superb cinematography which is clearly the highlight of the film. Also the narrative is jerky and too many characters flitting in and out. Another undesirable feature is the high screening time of 166 minutes.ĭirector Abhishek Varman has top class actors and an excellent DOP at his disposal but the screenplay and the dialogue let him down. What strikes one is that the emotions seem fake and there seems to be a lot of overacting. Inspite of the efforts of the actors the scenes leave no impact due to stagy presentation. The writer, director, music director are too involved in the making of the project which is their baby and nobody calls their baby ugly.Īs one sits through the first 30 minutes of the movie, one can feel the severe disconnect between the film and the audience. Only the DOP Binod Pradhan and producer Karan Johar could have got an uncomfortable feeling halfway through filming that the film was shaping up to a disaster and probably it was too late. Review Kalank & earn 20 DM Points.* Review Submit