FILM
REVIEW: KISNA (2005)
Director: Subhash Ghai
Producer: Subhash Ghai
Cast: Vivek Oberoi, Isha Sharvani, Antonia Bernath, Amrish Puri, Om
Puri, Zarina Wahab, Yashpal Sharma, Rajat Kapoor and Sushmita Sen
Radio
Sargam Rating: 5/10
SYNOPSIS:
Lady
Catherine (Antonia) returns to India on a Republic Day Parade, revealing
her plans to spend money on the redevelopment of the country. Some pesky
journalists request an explanation for the reasoning behind her mission,
and Lady Catherine takes them down memory lane (in true ‘Titanic’
style!).
The memories
begin with Lady Catherine playing with a young Indian lad called Kisna
during her childhood. However she’s sent back to Britain by her
father because he fears Catherine may eventually fall in love with Kisna.
It’s a little late though, because her heart already belongs to
Kisna and Catherine returns to India in May 1947, when the clarion call
for independence has already reached British ears.
She meets
Kisna (Vivek Oberoi) who does not give her a warm response because her
father, a British deputy Commissioner has troubled Indians a lot. Kisna
is now betrothed to Laksmi (Isha Sharvani) although he’s somewhat
averse to the relationship. Cathy still loves him and even dances at
his engagement.
Meanwhile
Kisna’s uncle (Amrish Puri) and brother (Yashpal Sharma) are anti-British
and they then proceed to kill Catherine’s father. After saving
Catherine, Kisna vows to protect her and safely take her to a safe location
where the British are staying before their return to England (following
India’s independence). Thus their journey, and love story, begins…
VERDICT:
The film is too long and fails to keep the audience interested. To make
matters worse, a number of scenes have been lifted straight out of movies
like Titanic, Lagaan and Hey Ram.
Isha Sharvani
dances like a dream. She is brilliant, although her character could
definitely be stronger. Antonia is cute like Isha, but has a lot more
scope to act. She does well too. Vivek Oberoi falls slightly below expectations
because there is too much self-confidence in his face for the role,
when certain portions need him to restrain his emotions rather than
just give a photogenic face. Otherwise, he does well in the role of
the warrior poet. Om Puri is wasted. Amrish Puri and Yashpal Sharma
do well. Sushmita Sen is lovely although strictly speaking, she wasn’t
needed in this film.
The screenplay
of the film is not sharp enough and the overflow of songs (e.g. Sushmita
Sen’s item number and the English song between Antonia and Vivek)
stop whatever pace the film gathers post interval.
Although
Subhash Ghai had a wonderful idea, he needed to work harder at the editing
table. If around an hour of unnecessary footage could be edited the
film would certainly create a bigger impact.
CONCLUSION:
The film was hyped as a massive epic, but Kisna is a massive disappointment.
The film will work best for Himachal Pradesh tourism board, who can
capitalize on the brilliantly shot scenes by Ashok Mehta. In case Kisna
doesn’t do that well, maybe the Himachal Pradesh tourism board
can share some of their profits with Ghai.
Reviewed
by: Tony
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