'Kedarnath' movie review: Does Sara Ali Khan impress in her debut?
Anita Iyer
Filed on December 6, 2018 | Last updated on December 6, 2018 at 12.03 pm
Both, the love story and the human tragedy, fail to move you.
Kedarnath is a tragic
love story with a background of a massive human tragedy - the
Uttarakhand floods in 2013 - that devastated the region.
The movie begins with a Muslim porter, Mansoor
Khan (Sushant Singh Rajput), transporting the pilgrims, residents of
Uttarakhand on his horse or back, up and down the steep mountain of the
holy town. His ultimate aim is to make sure every pilgrim has a
memorable visit.
Mandakini (Sara Ali Khan) is a daughter of a
Hindu priest and belongs to an influential family in the region. They
literally own the place, as we are told, and Mandakini behaves like she
truly does. She's feisty, rebel without a cause, Facebook addict, has a
mind of her own, wants to have a perfect love story going - basically
the quintessential new-age Bollywood actress we see in films these days.
The differences between their faiths is
established in the first few scenes, where a Hindu grandma has her
reservations about taking the hike up with the help of a Muslim
porter.
The camera loves Sara Ali Khan and she's
breathtaking in her debut. Director Abhishek Kapoor spends a good part
of the first half capturing her beauty and manages to get her to deliver
an array of emotions. She's confident, makes her presence felt and is
instantly likeable although she does miss the rawness needed for the
role in a few scenes.
The filmmaker tries hard to make us believe in
a love story that isn't really organic. We are forced to fall in love
with a couple whose love story is established in one really long song,
mouth cheesy dialogues, romance in the rain and want to be together
defying all odds. Add to that, a scene with the mother threatening to
set herself on fire with kerosene and we have the 90s Bollywood masala
film with a millennial star cast. Also, slapping each other at the
slightest provocation is an integral part of the script. There were at
least seven, at my last count.
A promising actor like Sushant Singh Rajput
exists in the background with two monologues to shine. He brings in the
token heroism, machoism towards the climax, required in a human tragedy
film but doesn't leave a lasting impression.
While the director should be given the credit
for making a film about Kedarnath floods, he is also guilty of cramming
in too many things in a 2-hour, 25 minute film.
By the second half, you don't know where to
invest your emotions - should it be the inter-faith couple, the
commercialisation plan of Kedarnath at the cost of its ecological
imbalance or the massive human tragedy of floods.
The trailer gave the impression that the film
revolves around the floods but the crisis makes an entry only in the
last 10-15 minutes. In the rest of the film, we are forced to empathise
with the couple. Writer Kanika Dhillon joins Abhishek Kapoor as the
co-writer but fails to create the magic of Manmarziyaan.
A little more focus on the tragedy could have
left an impression on the viewers. The visuals of the massive tsunami
engulfing the holy city, the crumbling buildings, the dark clouds, rain
bursts, people getting carried away by the force of water look hard
hitting. You can't escape but feel helpless, vulnerable at the hands of
mother earth's fury. So, why not focus more on it?
Kedarnath fails short of stirring up emotions the way it intends. It ends up being an empty, unmoving watch.
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Sara Ali Khan
Director: Abhishek Kapoor
Ratings: 2.5/5
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