When a star student in the class gets just above average marks, you do not say ‘Could have done better’. You instead raise a question ‘How could he do this’. ‘Ki & Ka’ the latest offering from ace storyteller and Director Balki is something with differential concept, maybe good intent but sketchy and inconsistent at its best.
‘Ki & Ka’ is a story of Ki; Kareena Khan who is super ambitious. She hates when housewives are given the status of pillar or support that no one remembers. She is all ready to be part of the rat race and have no time for romance and family life. In fact she considers them to be a threat that can derail her climb of corporate ladder.
She meets her Ka, IIMB topper Kabeer Bansal ( Arjun Kapoor), son of a rich builder ( Rajit kapoor). Kabeer wants to be an artist like his mother. The house artist that makes home by taking care of it. He is willing to be the househusband.
Perfect match. Ki & Ka. Perfect life. So it would seem. Devoted House Husband and a Ki- that is on success path. The film plays this part for too long along with lot of dinning table crap.
An incidence propels Ka in public limelight and he becomes the new hero in the country. The Ki & Ka equation is destabilised. Ego- jealousy- insecurities- reading too much in simple things – becomes a common factor. The film moves forward like a jerky old railway bogie. Becomes jealous and does not like it.
It is once again ABHIMAAN story with a twist.
Right at the cue Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan makes a short and very interesting story. This is the best interaction, dialogue and expression of the film.
Also two other scenes are there in this episodic brilliance. First when Rajit Kapoor is faced with Arjun’s decision to marry. He wants him to do something anything but be a housewife. He calls him to do the Chaddi check to see if he is man enough, second is a dramatically super scene on the steps of the steps of Wockhart Hospital. Here hyper kareena is shouting at Arjun for enjoying his newfound fame.
Few good episodes together do not make a film.
The film is hugely stereotyped. It is peaking with high decibel unnecessary melodrama.
Men don’t cry. Gay like Pink. Career women are the angry feminist types. Career women drink. It is the non-earning member who wears the mangalsutra! Housewives have nothing better to do then kitty party.
Housewives want to be healthy just for their husband’s attention. Marketing meetings are yet to be liberated from Power point presentation. Successful career women prove that they are not sleeping with the boss. The chief wage earner in the house has the upper hand.
A good hard kiss and a romp is a good way to finish arguments and debates. It is also hard to digest that the both Ki and Ka are able to forgive and forget each other’s comments. God if life was that easy.
People who work and head NGO are outspoken and open to realities of life. So much that she will ask her daughter if she ( Ki) had sex with the guy she is proposing to marry. Or better still, her son-in-law (Ka) will openly (though jokingly) offer her a place if she wanted to have sex with her male friend. Or even suggest and ask the equivalent of ‘Kitne Admi thay’, how many men have been in her life since her husband died.
So much fitted in a 2 hour badly written broken film.
The film and Balki, has the space, purpose and intent but misses out on an opportunity. He and his ‘Ki & Ka’ are confused if the movie is supposed to be a hard romance; they make out more than Imran Hashmi kisses in his film. They are not sure if it is a social comedy with hard gender equality messaging or an advertisement from Housewives association.
In the film 15th April is birthday of Ki and Ka and their marriage anniversary- and must have been the Friday scheduled for the release. But then SRK’s next film FAN (trailer looking good but a lot confusing) scheduled for 15th April may have made them push for an early release. The way film is going- catching any show after 15th would be breaking news.
It is thumbs down film.
There are incidences clearly inserted to balance the gender equation. One of them is reference to Nirbhaya. Here while Ki and Ka are taking a walk in night, people in a stationary bus comment “Arrey madam, Delhi kab se auraton ke liye safe ho gayi (since when Delhi has become safe for women?)”. This gives the hero (house Husband) an opportunity for some simple bashing up. Gender equality or superiority established. It could have been a spirited daughter of NGO head trained in martial arts who could have done the true role reversal.
The blatant advertising of brands is not restricted to the credit titles. You can see sponsors like Kalptaru, Rail Museum, Vistara, Lakme, Safola, Marico, Chroma, trike, Economic Times, CCTV and many others.
There is that irresponsible play with the pregnancy test kit. Another misplaced episode. Ka does speak of a 99% correct results, but the 4-2 score and checking with multiple kits will work against the category- or may be will lead to more sales- with more people using more than one kit. Was it a category placement?
Ka’s rail fascination is taken to ludicrous heights. The smart IIMB topper Interior decorator converts his home into a rail
pic skjbollywoodnews
reminder box. Must have been apart of the deal as it hardly does anything to the story or the cause other than extending it. The only place where rail is used symbolically is when Kareena pushes them on the on dining table or stops it while in bed, Truthfully, we never needed the song that was shot at rail museum, the home done in rail style or the last dialogue that to feel the romance they will return on a train instead of taking a flight.
Director and writer Balki has no respect for audience intellect. He uses same situation with reversed polarity to make his point. I am referring to the restaurant shot where people first want a selfie with Ki and later on with Ka who is more popular.
Come-on. Grow up.
The film is able to raise few issues. Value of Housewives work is one of them. The mistake people make when they refer to housewives’ work as nothing. And how it is referred as doing nothing.
It is a Kareena’s film with Arjun, Rajit and Swaroop Sampat as support cast. It surely shows that the chief wage earner (male or female) is the hero. And that has again shortchanged the concept to a ‘Money Money’ situation.
Balki has always been a concept man. I respect him for it. He is so focussed or being different that being relevantly r effectively different is forgotten. In trying to make a point in his iterative way he creates inconsistencies of thought. Unfortunately he is not able to treat the concept differential.
From Chinni Kum followed by ‘Pa’, ‘Shamitaabh’ and ‘Ki & Ka’ it is all downward.
STAR: Arjun Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Swaroop Sampat, Rajit Kapoor Director: R Balki
