Film review of "Krrish 3"

Superhero movies were not being considered as a genuine subject for film making,even a few years ago. For a long instance of time i.e. from the mid nineties to about 10 years from that point of time, foreign superheroes like Batman, Spiderman, Superman had ruled the box-office charts as well as the cash registers in India. But slowly hence forth, the bollywood film makers and producers realized that this tradition needed a change. This change in their mindset gradually paved the milestone,for making a way towards the rise of the glamorous Indian superheroes like krrish and Ra-one.

Although, a large number of superhero movies like Toofan, Ajooba, Mr.India etc,had been made in the sixties and seventies, it was the TV series "Shaktimaan", which first introduced the concept of an Indian Superhero with extraordinary powers, in a grand scale. But Mr. Rakesh Roshan gets the special credit for introducing a glamorous superhero in the form of "Krrish", and that too through a costly bollywood movie i.e. in a much broader way.

The saga started with the movie "Koi Mil Gaya", an Indian adaptation of the famous 1982 science fiction movie "E.T-The Extra Terrestrial", directed by Steven Spielberg, which was released in 2003. It spawned two sequels namely "Krrish" and "Krrish 3". While the former movie deals with the origin and rise of "Krrish", the latter deals with the agenda of "krrish" and his never ending battle against the evil forces.

The movie released worldwide on 1st November,2013 and was declared "Blockbuster" in India in the first week itself, by Box-Office India.

Starting with the review:

Title: The movie takes the Krrish saga forward by demonstrating the agenda of our Indian Superhero "Krrish" and how he continuously battles against all evil forces to save the city from ruins and destruction and finally saves the day. However, there was a controversy about the title of the movie being "Krrish 2" or "Krrish 3" , as the previous installment was named "Krrish". But the controversy was cleared when the lead actor Hrithik Roshan confirmed in an interview to Rediff.com that the naming was done based on the "Rambo" franchise.

Trailer: The trailer of "Krrish 3" was released on You tube channel on 5th August,2013 and was immensely well received by the audience. It received more than 2.3 million views at You Tube within it's first day of release, surpassing the previous record held by "Jab Tak Hai Jaan". The trailer became the most watched Bollywood trailer on You Tube with 12 million views within two weeks, eclipsing the trailers of Hollywood block busters like "The Avengers" and "Thor". The trailer introduced Kangna Ranaut as a mutant with special powers, along with some other mutants too, which made the movie more interesting and attractive to watch.

However, according to my personal view, the trailer gave a hint of the clumsy, convoluted story line that the movie would show up. Besides that, the visual effects seemed more virtual than being real. So, overall, the trailer was moderately good.

Poster: The first look of "Krrish 3" was released on July,2013 and received positive enthusiastic response from the audience.

                                   

The main theatrical poster of the movie,released a few days prior to the release of the trailer, showed the main character in lead i.e. Krrish, surrounded by evil mutants and gave an impression of him saving the world, that will form the crux of the story.

                                                    

The poster was successful in attracting masses to the movie theatres.

Marketing and Promotion: The release of the first look in July,2013, and the trailer and poster back to back in August,2013, was a very efficient promotional marketing strategy adopted by the authorized bodies. The teaser trailer was very positively received by the audience, and the press remarked positively to it, by concluding that the movie trailer echoed the feelings of Hollywood Block-Buster superhero movies like Batman, Superman etc.

For further promotion, a new video game of "Krrish" was launched, bearing all the characters of Krrish 3. Hand bands and watches bearing Krrish symbol were introduced and free samples were distributed among a few lucky kids. Besides that, a new website of Krrish 3 was also launched to provide relevant information.
The link to the website is: http://www.krrish-3.com/
The marketing strategy adopted by them was splendidly able to fulfill it's purpose.

Story Line: The story begins with Krrish (Hrithik), now an established superhero, saving the city during troubles. His father Rohit (Hrithik), a famous scientist, works in a well established laboratory. The other half of Krrish i.e. Krishna, is married to Priya Mehra (Priyanka) and they live happily. However, trouble arrives, when an evil genius named Kaal (Vivek) with special telekinetic powers, decides to release the virus of a deadly disease in India, to elaborate his business, as he only knows how to make the antidote, using his own blood. Kaal is a handicapped mutant, who searches for the bone marrow to cure him, and has created a team of mutants named as "Maanvars" i.e. hybrids of human and animals.

However,Rohit observes that the disease virus has no effect on him, krishna or the pregnant Priya, and then makes the antidote using Krishna's bloodstream. This angers Kaal, who sends out his mutants to find the truth. Thus begins a police and thief game between Krrish and Kaal's mutants. Krrish defeats Frogman, one of  Kaal's Mutants and saves Rohit from being taken away. But Priya is injured in the process and is taken to a hospital. In the hospital, Kaya (Kangna), another of Kaal's mutants, who can change forms, replaces Priya,by taking her form, and the original kidnapped Priya is taken as a hostage in to Kaal's laboratory.

Slowly, Kaya develops feelings for Krishna, and finally helps Krrish, to reach for the rescue of his father and wife. In a vicious battle, Krrish defeats all of Kaal's henchmen and finally defeats Kaal after a long tussle, thus proving that Good always triumphs over Evil.

The story line, according to me, is very much convoluted, clumsy and can be said to be a spoiled broth prepared by five or more writers, that cannot taste well enough.

Acting: Hrithik Roshan, in the dual role of the superhero Krrish and his child like father, Rohit, carries out his task well. However, during his acting for the character Rohit, he shows some typical mannerisms, which has come trend wise from "Koi...Mil Gaya". But,apart from that, his performance is notably praiseworthy.

Priyanka Chopra, in the role of Priya, the dedicated, loving, fashion seeking wife of Krishna/Krrish, does not have too much screen space to share and neither has an opportunity to portray much of her acting skills.

Kangna Ranaut, in the role of Kaya, a mutant, does her role well. At scenes, where she needed to show emotions, she has been partially successful.

Vivek Oberoi, in the role of "Kaal", has done a disastrous performance. Throughout the movie, his role was to sit on a moving wheel chair, and use his powers to control the surroundings. Although, he was given ample chances in this movie, to prove himself, he failed to do so.

Other supporting casts were partially up to the mark.

Music: The music composed by Rajesh Roshan, may be regarded as his worst performance. The songs are too long, too slow, and too rubbish to listen to. Every track seems to be boring and irritating, to a large extent and so why the audience response towards the music has also been very negative. Overall, the music gets a rating of 3/10 from me.

Duration: Apart from music, the pace and duration of the movie is also a negative factor that decreases the movie value. The film could be made shorter, narrower and up to the point, preventing the clumsy story line that resulted due to involvement of a large number of writers and script writers. The duration of the movie is too long, and the pace,although initially starts well, begins to loosen up as time travels. Thus, the duration and pace of the movie should also have been considered for improvement.

Overall, the movie gets a rating of 6.5/10.

Film review of "The Lunchbox"

Some unknown and undefined connections always exist among a few people in this extraordinary world. Only the media of communication keeps on changing as days pass by. Earlier it used to be pen friends, followed by social networking sites like Facebook, and Social messaging applications like Whats app that have taken the place. Yet people who don't know each other, may be connected just via a simple media of communication.

Written and directed by Ritesh Batra, this movie depicts a simple romantic budding love story of two people who don't know each other, but are linked through a series of letters.

Using the idea of Pen - friendship, the director has been able to implement the idea of love and romance flourishing among two unknowns, with the heavy stress and hustle of Mumbai life in back ground, very aesthetically.

The film was screened at International Critics' Week at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, and later won the Critics Week Viewers Choice Award also. It was shown at the 2103 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was released in India, U.S., and U.K. on 20th September, 2013 and did well at the box office. It has received over whelming positive reviews and responses from critics world wide.

Now,I would like to start with the film review of the movie:

Title: The main plot of the movie throws light on an undefined budding relationship that slowly emerges among two unknowns, who have never met each other. In a slow but steady manner, the movie shows how people living in fast paced cities like Mumbai, have to undergo violent stress in order to accomplish their work, but still find time to enjoy the beauty of love and essence of life. The connection between the two lead characters in this movie, is established using a series of letters kept inside a misplaced lunchbox from time to time. Hence, the title "Lunchbox" is accurately justified.

Poster: The main theatrical release poster shows the three lead characters of the movie, pursuing on their journey of life, entangling each other,along with a hint of love and affection prevalent among one or more of them.

                                             

Though the poster does not clearly imply about the main theme of the movie, but it is sufficient enough to attract sensible audience to the movie theatres. Thus, the poster in delivering it's purpose, is a success.

Story Line: The story line is based on a very unique idea of  a strong romantic bonding, slowly budding up between two unknown people developed through a series of letters, initiated by a misplaced lunchbox, and this forms the crux of the story. The story starts with a little throw of light on the Mumbai daily life and it's fast pace, and meanwhile the main characters are introduced slowly in a regular manner. The pattern of the so called dabba(Container/Lunchbox) service in Mumbai, delivered by the local dabbawalas(Delivery Boys) is then shown to the audience in a satirical way. The delivery boy commits a mistake by wrongly delivering the food container of a housewife,which was to be received by her husband, to an about to retire office employee, whom she doesn't even know. This mistake continues for many days,after which the house wife comes to know about it, and then tries to make contact with the unknown stranger(employee),by writing a letter to him and embedding it in the lunchbox, in order to get a feedback about the food that she cooks everyday for her husband,from him.The story line then takes a convoluted turn when it is revealed gradually that the housewife is unhappy with her life,and so is the employee with his life,due to him being a lonely widower.Gradually they begin to share their inner feelings with each other, and as time passes by, they fall in love. However, the story ends with a question mark, leaving it on the mental orientation and aspection of the audience to assume the ending.

Acting: Irrfan Khan, one of the most reputed powerhouse performers of Bollywood, has kept his reputation intact as per the defined standards, through his acting skills portrayed in this movie. Apart from some typical mannerisms common in his every movie, he has been able to bring out the character of a lonely widower seeking for love,as well as a budding lover,with great and clear confidence. He has been able to make the audience feel as if some real life incident is going on, and his character lively,through his acting.

Nimrat Kaur, in the role of an unhappy house wife, who longs for her husband's love, takes suggestions from her flatmate upstairs in order to charm her husband, and finally falls for a complete stranger, does justice to her role. In scenes, where she needed to show her emotional expressions with ease, she is mildly successful.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui, as the irritating sub-employee as well as the caring friend, brings out his character lively again, thus maintaining his standards.

Other minor characters are also well portrayed by the respective actors. The cast selection gets a rating of 9/10 from me.

Music: The film does not have a large number of tracks.It is based on a hypothetical situation that may arise in real life,in a course of time,and so needs less or no songs to avoid making the script clumsy. One particular track of a song being sung by a tribal group in a Local train deserves special mention,not for lyrics but for it's originality and equivalence to real life.

Pace: The pace of the movie is too slow. The opening and closing of the lunchbox is shown too many times unnecessarily,thus making the audience feel bored. The movie could be made a little faster or better shorter by editing and removing a few irrelevant scenes.

Overall,the movie gets a rating of 7.5/10 from me.