J and Linda run away to rural Southwestern America, and later to Mexico. They communicate through a cute kind of sign-language. It starts with J comforting Linda, the victim of Tony's abusiveness and narcissism. Only now, with both of them on the verge of exorbitant wealth and lives of luxury, they begin their fatal romance. In fact, J and Linda are still legally married, thanks to their earlier shenanigans. Her father died when she was young, so she left her destitute family in rural Mexico, promising to return one day with wealth and splendour. Then, just as he's all set to marry Gina and finally live the good life, Gina's brutish brother Tony (Nick Brown) shows up, with his beautiful, mysterious fiancee Natasha.Īlas, Natasha is actually Linda, one of the poor immigrants ushered into America by our hero J. He even gets an exclusive invite to Bob's palatial home - a taste of things to come, perhaps? J's a dodgy, feckless guy at this point, palming money at bars and staying in a deplorable bachelor pad.īut, while still living the low life, he romances Gina (Kangna Ranaut), the daughter of one of the city's most powerful casino owners, Bob (Kabir Bedi). One of his various scams is to exchange green cards for greenbacks for a few hundred dollars, he marries immigrant women so they can legally stay in the US. J is an Indian-origin dance choreographer living in Las Vegas, who hustles on the side. In Kites, he nails a few scenes, but bungles many more, particularly the film's catastrophically bad ending.īut, overall, Hrithik is comfortable in this role, as the down-and-out yet still heroic J, and the part seems written especially for him. In short, he should be the perfect leading man. He's also a talented dancer, which means something here in India. Hrithik Roshan has looks, charisma and a tremendous on-screen presence. Is he still a better lead than a younger actor like Shahid Kapoor? Is he Hollywood ready? Will he ever take on the mantle of Bollywood's best, like SRK and Big B before him? Forget all that. Make no mistake: the film is all about Hrithik, an expose of sorts. In that way, Kites is like a really long underwear advertisement, with Mr Roshan our man in briefs. Much of that slow motion is used to focus on our Adonis, Hrithik Roshan - his rippled physique, disarming smile, captivating green eyes and penchant for emotion. The perpetual use of slowmotion is downright obnoxious, and gets worse as the film progresses. And more slow-mo shots than should ever be allowed in one movie. Repetitive, poorly executed action scenes. Basu's gargantuan 130-minute original certainly gave him a lot to prune:Ĭountless close-ups of the hero, J (Hrithik Roshan), lip quivering, eyes welling up with tears. It will be interesting to see how Hollywood filmmaker Brett Ratner ( Rush Hour, X-Man: The Last Stand) handled the 90 minute English "Brett Ratner Remix" of Kites, to release next week. With less theatrics, some ruthless editing and a few tweaks to make the plot crisp and believable, it would be an enjoyable movie. Also, let's be clear, Kites looks amazing, and is very frequently visually arresting. Buried beneath the melodrama is an interesting narrative set in an interesting place. It's sad, because Anurag Basu's long-awaited film clearly has potential. Not even a noteworthy Indian contribution to global cinema. It's tempting to say this of Kites itself, which despite its slick image and incredibly beautiful stars is not what it claims to be. Basically, she's a really, really good-looking fraud.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |