Bollywood Movie Review: Krrish ...

By Subhash K. Jha, Indo-Asian News Service

Film: "Krrish"; Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Rekha,

Naseeruddin Shah; Directed by: Rakesh Roshan; Rating: ***

Is it a bird, it is a plane? No it's Hrithik Roshan!!!

It's not enough to say that Hrithik is one of the best actors of the

country. Extraordinary is the word for the measured manner in which he

glides through the air to the beat of Rajesh Roshan's rather-vapid

songs... or cuts through the breeze to the stunning special effects

created with a verve so-far unknown to Indian cinema.

"Krrish" takes us into the world of masked fantasy where the stakes

are incredibly high... as high as the computer-generated leaps that the

super-hero takes as he tries to save the world from the clutches of a

megalomaniacal villain with a glint in his eyes that can only belong to

Naseeruddin Shah.

Though there's a sense of slackening in the earlier portions of the

lengthy narrative, the last lap of this luscious voyage into comic-book

fantasy is undertaken in a spirit of complete conviction and

credibility.

You can't miss the sign posts. We've seen so many Bollywood heroes

doing heart-in-the-mouth stunts. But never in an Indian film have we

seen a hero look so elegant and relaxed as he glides over water and

mountains to vanquish the power-crazy villain.

Though the scripting in the first half reveals signs of formulistic

fatigue (scenes where the village-bred Hrithik tries to spook the

globe-trotting journalist Priyanka Chopra are straight out of a Joy

Mukherjee-Asha Parekh musical from the 1960s), the second half revs up

proceeds to an exceeding high, precipitating the kind of action and

thrills that have so far been alien to Hindi cinema.

The scripting in the second half, specially the portions that show

Krrish's father (Hrithik doing a double role) and the villain reading

the future to see their own impending deaths, are masterstrokes of

plotting invention.

Quaintly Rakesh Roshan mixes old formulistic conventions with sights

and sounds never seen before. The synthesis is not just inviting but

also enticing in ways that re-define the cult of kitsch and escapism in

our cinema.

It's not enough to get technicians from abroad to do the action.

Other Hindi films have tried it before. But none with the élan of

Hrithik Roshan as he glides across the frames in strides that replicate

the measured might of a panther.

Make no mistake, "Krrish" belongs to Hrithik Roshan. He again

displays his skills at dancing, fighting, emoting and just being

comfortable with the camera without once letting the sweat of the toil

trickle into the frames. Here's an actor who stubbornly re-defines the

concept of screen heroism with every performance.

In "Krrish", Hrithik is required to make the transition from a

simpleton in the village with superpowers to a masked crusader in

Bangkok. He brings to the film's fantasy element a kind of innocence

underlined by a subtle swagger that furnishes the duality of the masked

character the musk of masculinity and vulnerability. His initial

romantic sequences in a designer-dhoti with Priyanka Chopra are

endearing. The two make a believable pair. However, Priyanka is

unnaturally subdued, the fire doused by the overall dynamics of the

goings-on.

Hrithik's scenes with his screen-grandmom Rekha exude warmth, though

it's hard to accept Rekha as a grand-mom.

Naseeruddin Shah as Hrithik's opponent is so cool you wish there was

more of him. Priyanka Chopra's character represents the reluctant

forces of cut-throat ambition that threaten all the heroic innocence of

the supernaturally blessed hero.

We've seen it before in "Superman", "Batman" and "King Kong". But

our "Krrish" has something extra-special those films didn't. Hrithik

Roshan.

Bollywood.com Rating: 3.5