Film Review - Kaanchi

Living In The Past

Film: Kaanchi

Cast: Mishti, Kartik Tiwari, Mithun Chakraborty

Directed by: Subhash Ghai

Duration: 2 hrs 31mins

Rating: * 1 / 2

There was a time when a new Subhash Ghai film was a major event but for a considerable time now, it goes off just as a whimper. Most of the Hindi film directors have not been able to adapt with the changing times and Ghai, once dubbed as the showman is no different.

While there is an attempt to tell a more contemporary story like corruption but then evil politicians in Bollywood films are older than Egyptian mummies. Set in a picturesque village called Koshampa in North India, Binda (Kartik Tiwari) runs some kind of a training school. He is in love with Kaanchi (Mishti) and the feeling is mutual. The mandatory baddies are trying to take over the village lead by a politician called Kakda (Mithun Chakraborty) along with his relative (Rishi Kapoor, paying a heavy price for acting in Karz).  

Kakda’s son (Rishabh Sinha) also likes the girl and when she doesn’t reciprocate, he bumps off her soon-to-be hubby. The to-be bride turns into Tarantino’s The Bride, seeking vengeance against those responsible for her fiancé’s death and she goes all the way to Mumbai and even involves anti-corruption crusaders.

The film provides quite a few unintentional laughs and Ghai’s direction is archaic and time warped, to say the least. The screenplay lacks any sparks and takes comical routes for convenience.

Last year, I visited Alfred theatre in Mumbai, which happens to be one of the oldest theatres in the country. There, they still show films of the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000 and interestingly, there is a big audience for those films. Kaanchi, I suspect will do very well there because just about every element is from that era.

Newcomer Mishti looks like a combination of Aishwarya and Rani Mukherjee but on the acting front she still needs to hone her skills. It is a pity to see Rishi Kapoor do such cringe worthy roles, Mithun Chakraborty though has got a marginally better deal.

Subhash Ghai took 6 years between his previous film (Yuvvraaj) and this one. Ideally, he should call it quits now but if not, we are certainly in no hurry to see his next effort.

Published in The Navhind Times on 27th Apr 2014

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