With stars and big names like Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol and Kalki Koechlin, song trailers that keep reminding you of a certain flick called Dil Chahta Hai (DCH) a decade back, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD) was one of the most eagerly awaited movies of the year. Does it succeed in its attempt to tell a beautiful story? Does it touch the emotional chord of the audience? Let’s find out!
First things first! This movie is probably a first attempt by a Bollywood director to directly target his movie to an international audience. I mean common having a special international version in English (dont understand what does that mean as the Hindi version is itself 60-70% English and Spanish) with the so called “steamy scenes”, and also a realise in 35 new countries where Hindi movies have never been before and also entering the US Top 10 is definitely big stuff!!! Or is it?
Kites starts off with a sequence showing Hrithik in his amazingly toned and fit body training dancers in salsa. He is a happy go lucky guy who marries illegal immigrants who want to get a green card in the US of A and he some good cash. One fine day Kangana Ranaut (really didnt get what did she try to achieve by doing a blink and a miss role!) comes up to him and confesses about her love and he realises that he has hit the jackpot with her dad being the biggest man in Vegas owning the biggest casino. From then on he meets Nicholas Brown (Tony – God he just had one expression on his face throughout the movie! Awful!!!) and he his fiancee Barbara Mori who was (she looks pretty ok) his last “illegal” wife. The subsequent story about their love, high speed chases, action is all a bit too predictable.
There are a problems aplenty with this movie! What I dont understand is why is 90% of the movie in English and Spanish??? I mean even today why are we Bollywood actors / directors so happy to please the Westerners. Why is the West the be all end all of every thing?? The language barrier would have affected the audience in a big big way even in cities. Hrithik Roshan acts ok and has an amazing body and as usual dances well but at many places you do feel that he is trying to woo the international audiences and stake a claim in Hollywood or something and that really does look a bit too over the top. The climax though “different” from the rest doesnt work one bit because you dont feel for the pair, as the chemistry isnt developed well. So sad for a couple whose pairing was talked about for months if not years!
Recently Hrithik said on Twitter that Indians are used to Biryani but they should try pasta also which meant that he thinks Indians are used to watching lovey – dovey and happy kind of movies and should accept something different. But Mr Hrithik Roshan, I personally feel theres nothing so different in this movie other than the fact that its an Indian – Mexican love story with 90% of the dialogues in English and Spanish. Another sore point of the movie is the music. Few tunes like Dil Kyun Ye Mera are hummable but they dont register the kind of impact that needs to be registered.
One thing which I did like is the amazing photography of the locales in USA and Mexico. Didnt though such beautiful places existed there.
In the end, I would just like to advise the Indian directors by saying that whatever you guys think about making movies for international audiences, getting Oscars and all that, Indian audiences are the ones who make or break your movies. By saying Indians dont like pasta and like biryani and all such nonsense, you cant hide a “HOLLOW SCRIPT”
DISAPPOINTING!!!!
Rating – 1.5/5
