‘Kalank’ was a dream project of the late Yash Johar (Karan Johar’s father) and Karan practically left no stone unturned to shatter his dream into pieces. Despite spending a bomb on the sets in recreating the 1946 era, superb VFX and rich production values, including the cinematography, this tale of eternal love story is outdated. The pathetic screenplay adds insult to injury. People are tired of seeing the same Hindu-Muslim drama. The entire star cast is a miscast. Varun Dhawan, being a youth icon, is not meant for such historical films. His bare chest scenes are forcefully flashed while making a sword and for what? Alia plays a confusing character. Sanjay Dutt is totally wasted and he is mostly on the dining table. Sonakshi Sinha carries the same sad and helpless look throughout the film. Madhuri Dixit is shown to be an ever-ready dancer. Put on some music and she’ll start performing as she’s dressed up all the time with her ornaments carrying one constant facial expression. Aditya Roy Kapur’s role is meaningless. Kiara Advani, with only three scenes, is restricted to a clichéd role. Kriti Sanon is seen in an item number only. Kunal Khemu lacks the right mannerism to look like a villain. The ordinary dialogues, lack of entertainment, average editing and long duration translate into a drama which is boring and tedious. Two songs from Pritam are chartbusters but were forced while the rest don’t add any value. Director Abhishek Varman doesn’t do justice to Yash Johar’s cinematic sensibilities and fails to get the best performance from the star cast. Clearly, the intensity of romance is missing!
Rating: 1/5