MyRating: YDirector: Anurag Basu
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Barbara Mori, Nicholas Brown, Kabir Bedi, Kangana Ranaut, Yuri Suri, Anand Tiwari, Steven Michael Guezada
This is the third Bollywood movie I watched this year, after My Name is Khan (2010) and 3 Idiots (2009). I was excited to see Kites because of many reasons. First, I loved the other two movies a lot, which have great stories and great casts (Shahrukh Khan in My Name is Khan and Aamir Khan in 3 Idiots), and both movies have given me a wonderful time in the cinema. Second, this movie (Kites) has a very strong name too, Hrithik Roshan, Bollywood most popular leading actor after Shahrukh Khan's generation. Third, Kites was the first Bollywood movie that reached the Top Ten of US Weekend Box Office (period May 21-23, 2010). And a high score in Rotten Tomatoes from the critics even convinced me more.
But somehow after watching it, I felt very disappointed with this movie. If you happened to like Kites, just consider my review as another opinion, because as I have said before, not all people have the same taste. One person's rotten egg maybe another person's star. That always happened when talking about like or dislike about a movie. And every person can be true with his opinion. But I will tell you why this movie didn't work for me.
The story is about a smart young man, J (Roshan) who thirst to become rich and dating a rich girl, Gina (Ranaut), whose father, Bob (Bedi), is one of the richest men in Las Vegas, who owns casino. But J is falling for his girlfriend's brother's fiancee, Natasha (Mori), a Mexican imigrant. Not only that is a cardinal sin, but also it is the most fatal sin, as his girlfriend's family's business is similar to that of a mob, that punishes the cheaters in their casino with death penalties. And when Gina's brother, Tony (Brown), finds out about J and Natasha's affair, he and his family's gang members hunt them all the way to the desert of Mexico.
You have heard this kind of story many times before? It's a cliche one. But that's not a problem for me, because I can love even the most cliche story, as long as the filmmaker can turn it into a beautiful and enjoyable movie. And this one was not. The story didn't work for me at all. I think both the script and the directing were unsuccessful. The story was slow in progress and somehow boring. The flashbacks (actually it was back and forth in the storytelling) was not worked and directed well, it was a bit confusing. The actions were silly and too forced. And the ending of the movie was just ridiculous.
For the actors, I don't think the chemistry between Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori, the American Latin leading actress, was working well. I actually didn't feel the chemistry. It's not because their actings were bad. Not at all. Hrithik Roshan surely has his charm and he did not play his role bad, and Barbara Mori is beautiful. I think maybe their characters, who don't know each other's language in this movie, was one of the cause. It somehow stole the romantic away.
Many people may think that the dance in the beginning of the movie by Hrithik Roshan was awesome and spectacular. I agree that the dance was good. But I just cannot feel it. Why? Because it was shown too early in the movie before we even got to know the character well. If you like Step Up and Step Up 2 (the guilty pleasure movies that many critics hated, but I liked the movies), you will understand how the climax dances really work in amazed you, because they were shown at the very end of the movies, after we knew what we have to know about the characters. But of course the Hrithik Roshan's dance could not be moved into the end of this movie, because this is just not a dance movie. But that's the only way I can explain why the dance didn't work for me. It was not excited me as the songs and the dances in 3 Idiots and My Name is Khan did.
While watching this movie, the stars in my head kept falling down as the story progressed, and the ending was the lowest point. Maybe people won't care for my stars (of review). But that was exactly how I felt when watching this movie.
Again, don't feel discourage by my review. If you are interested in seeing this movie, because you love Indian movies or you love Hrithik Roshan, just go for it! You maybe will have a different feeling and opinion from me. And if you happen to like it, then just consider my review as a silly one. But if you happen to hate it, then we are on the same boat. (MJ)
