Kick
Not A Normal Review
At the end of the
year, I expected to create a new list of Bollywood for my favorites movies of
the year. When Kick's trailer came out, I knew the film would feature on this
list for two reasons; cause it looked like a fun masala movie and cause it
featured Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
Before watching the
movie I envisioned my review for this film and I saw the inevitable that any
critic sees with the film, whether he be refined or amateur like me. I saw a
Salman Khan film, I saw a bad film.
Let me correct
myself, I saw a conventionally bad film.
Masala Movies such as the above are bad in normal aspects but surprisingly thoroughly entertaining, maybe my reviews system or critics minds need to be checked
Writing, Directing,
Performances, Score/Soundtrack. That's how my review is structured.
What it means is
that I see?
The Script,
Screenplay, Plot; basically characters, dialogues, character arcs, narrative
structure, logic, depth, message and more
Direction, Editing,
Cinematography: What it looks like, How it plays out and Who steers the film in
the right direction
The Actors and their
acting
Then finally the
background music and the foreground music and in Hindi films, how it works into
the pacing of the film.
Yet, the one thing
true film buffs are taught to look for in a film is what is the film
advertising? As a film that has a genre, who is it targeting? And what is it
promising to deliver?
That's why a film
has a trailer.
To tell you what to
expect, to peddle it's product.
So what I expected
was to tell you about the difference of Conventional Criticism against Escapist
Entertainment.
To tell you that
Kick is a bad film in terms of script and direction and what not, but it's
entertaining as hell especially its second half.
Then the script
turned everything around. The four writers who become a hodgepodge of too many
cooks spoiling the broth, also end up playing to their stars strength like no
other Salman Khan film has.
Like with this
year's Jai Ho, the film tells you...no it shows you to excruciatingly levels
about Salman Khan's golden heart. Sure not on such tacky levels but Kick does
more than that though.
Whether it's Devil, Devil or Chulbul...It's always Salman Khan
Don’t be mistaken,
this film isn't about Devil or Devi Lal or any name by which the script calls
its character. This man standing in front of you (in the poster above) is
Salman Khan through and through.
As the news reports
have been saying, this is a film about Salman Khan more than any other. It's
his promotional campaign. It's his auto-biography.
As the dialogue
points out:
'Yeh aadmi logo ko
maarta hai, par dil ka bahot aacha hai...yeh aadmi jail ja chukha hai, par dil
ka bahot aacha hai' ('This man beats other people, but has a golden
heart...this man has been to jail, but he has a golden heart')
It's too present the
character and in this case Salman Khan's flaws but to tell you that his heart
is in the right place. Through it's near 3 hour run time, that's all this movie
is really doing.
Amidst the mind
blowing action, Salman Khan at his motivated best, cracking dialogues and a
sublime ham performance from Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The movie hides its message
but lets you know it.
While Advertising his charity, is Salman actually just showing he's so charitable? Could he in reality be more like Shiv Gajra (Nawazuddin's villainous corrupt charitable character) than Devil
Salman Khan will go
through anything and do anything for his kids. He will do the wrong things, to
Be Human.
You'd ask, isn't
that a good thing? Sure in reality and for criticism's sake the film is bad.
But Salman promoting his charity Being Human, isn't that a good thing?
Yes it is. But the
way the film is positioned, it primes Khan as a messiah. It doesn't speak as
much of his charity, as it does of his charitable character.
Sure Khan has his
heart in the right place with his charity, but the film knows what it tells you
and what Salman Khan lets it tell you (don't be misguided, a superstar of
Khan's proportions has a lot of influence on a film and its story).
To finally get to
the point.
It's to promote a
man for his good deeds who has gone beyond everything to escape a crime he has
committed.
Innocent or Guilty, maybe even the court can't or wont tell
Guilty until proven
Innocent is the mantra, a celebrity will be looked with the magnified eyes of
suspicion for doing something wrong in this world. All that does make a point.
But so do witnesses.
So does evidence. And So does the fact of their disappearance and the length of
this simple case.
To those not in the
know. There is an ongoing case against Salman Khan, a hit and run case where he
has been charged with the murder of pedestrians sleeping on the pavement as he
was driving drunk.
It's what makes the
movie suspect, what makes every one of his moves and movies a big question.
Is Salman Khan a
good guy? Everyone is.
Is Salman Khan doing
the charity for his benefit or for charity? Only he can say, but his heart may
be in the right place more than the wrong.
As the dialogue
iterates don't think about him. There's one thing you can believe about the
movie and the friends who speak highly of Salman Khan is that he is truly a
mystery. A mystery that is crystal clear.
The known enigma.
And that's why I
hate the film.
The promotion of
Khan is deplorable. The message sent might be a nice gesture, but comes at a
wrong time and for suspect reasons.
Why tell the world
you're good, when you're good?
A film is a film and
that's all it should be. A simple message in a film is fine, an agenda hard to
like.
But a film is a film
and at times it should be seen as such, Escapist Entertainment more than
Conventional Criticism.
Bryan Singer the director of X-Men and Usual Suspects, is one of the first openly gay men in Hollywood. Known for his notorious parties, he has been accused of child molestation in the recent past
As I said once with
my review of X-Men: DOFP, I never mix the professional and personal opinions of
a person.
To me if he did what
he has been accused of, the character Bryan Singer and director Bryan Singer
are different people and my opinion of them will be different. As a human
being, yes I might watch his movie with disdain but I wont criticize them for
anything else other than what they are.
Same goes with
Salman Khan.
What he has done
personally and if he is in the wrong. I already hate him, so it wont change a
thing.
But in terms of a
movie it gets confusing when his personal is promoted in his professional in a
biased manner.
If There's One Reason You Need to Catch Kick then it's Nawazuddin Siddiqui, whose hammy performance gives the Kick the audience needs in a tepid but mildly entertaining film
Yet if I look at it
crystal clear, I liked Kick especially it's second half. It was a much more fun
masala movie than normal. If I look at it subjectively, I love Kick cause even
though in a wasted role; Nawazuddin Siddiqui was a livewire of scenery chewing
brilliance. He stole the show, he stole Khan's thunder and he stole the Devil's
Kick.
Kick, I loved it for
its entertainment. Kick, I hated it for its message.
Kick will possibly
feature on that end list. Yet Kick's message will never let me watch it again
without disdain.
'Nuff Said
Aneesh Raikundalia
No comments:
Post a Comment