Kambakkht Ishq - Is it worth a watch...?

Kareena plays a surgeon in this one. With surgeons like her around, I’m sure getting operated would be a lifetime opportunity. Even if it is at the cost of a blade or a scissor being left inside the patient’s body. I’m sure something as innocuous as a wrist watch would be most welcome. Apart from Kareena (as the part time surgeon), if there is anything else in the movie that is worth watching, it is Kareena (as the full time super model). Watching her portray this combination of surgeon + model is like enjoying two different delicacies made out of the same ingredient...In other words, its like having ‘butter chicken’ and ‘chicken biryani’ at the same time. The number of outfits she has changed in the movie must’ve had her legendary grandfather take turns in his grave and given a jolt to his so-called creativity, that never went beyond showing women in see-through sarees aimlessly standing below waterfalls, waiting to be devoured by one of his own folks. Getting back to the movie, Akshay Kumar plays the dare devil stuntman, who unable to surmount the overwhelming love for his native language, delivers a Punjabi speech at a Hollywood awards night. Much to his disappointment, he realises that the award wasn’t being given to him in Bhatinda or Ludhiana. Aftab Shivdasani appears to have carved out a niche for himself in playing the man deprived of a daily dose of medicine from his wife. Last time he played the deprived soul was in MASTI, where Tara Sharma time and again refuses treatment to him under the garb of various auspicious occasions. Kiron Kher is the nagging Punjabi aunty. I guess she’s never played this role before. She has something different to offer in every movie she does and I stand in admiration of her versatility. Amrita Arora once again plays a second fiddle to the lead actress. Standing next to Kareena makes her look like a side dish being served with a main course item. Testimony to this are the rogues in the climax scene, who chose to chase only Kareena and leave Amrita in the lurches. Coming to the songs in the movie, it would be a crime if I do not mention the ‘Bebo’ song. Alisha Chinoy does justice to Kareena’s personality with her tailor made voice and Kareena reciprocates to the same with her tailor made moves. I’m sure Anu Malik must have spent not more than ten minutes on his ancestral harmonium composing this master piece. The movie in its entirety is an entertainer. KAREENA IS THE BONUS, Amrita Arora could be worth the money spent on the ticket and Kiron Kher is the ‘Entertainment Tax’ deducted at source.

The quintessential bollywood underwear...!

Something that has been a mystery to me since the last ten years and continues to baffle me is the manner in which bollywood flashes male nudity in the comic sense. It appears, that its an implied understanding between the movie maker and the audience that a ‘knee length pyjama’ with vertical stripes all over is as good as wearing nothing at all. A bollywood actor, more often a comedian, would be construed as having worn nothing inside his pants which would fall off to flash these long striped shorts with naadas as long as a Donkey's tail. The actor would then run helter-skelter in embarrassment as though his chastity has been attacked. Precedents have been set over the years by legendary comedians like Mehmood and Johny Lever to this effect. These great men have carried the tradition of sporting this classic attire and placing it on the same platform as an underwear.
Be it Anil Kapoor in ‘Loafer’ or Shakti Kapoor in ‘Raja Babu’, these legends have always written off these shorts as underwears. This phenomenon was taken a step forward when Alok Nath in ‘Insaaf’ removed his pants to sit on a commode, to do the dew, with the quintessential bollywood underwear on. However, it was Akshay Kumar who climbed down like a spider man from the top, to interfere in Alok Nath’s load shedding activity. History repeated itself for the second time when Ashish Vidyarthi in ‘Jodi No.1’ placed himself in a similar situation. Minutes later, he was thrashed to humiliation by Sanjay Dutt and Govinda. Speaking of Govinda reminds me of the movie ‘Saajan Chale Sasural’ wherein he takes his pants off in front of his two wives to demolish the confusion created by his dual identity. Shame dawns upon the people standing next to him though he is well clad in his knee length shorts, which if not vertically striped, could have been worn by a tourist guide at work.
Movie makers from the Hollywood may be interested in conducting a research to crack the mystery behind this implied understanding between hindi film directors and the audience. I, as an ardent follower of the bollywood movies, have obviously reconciled to the fact that I ought to be a party to this understanding.