Karthik Calling Karthik Movie Review : Ring barse
Print
Karthik Calling Karthik
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Deepika Padukone, a telephone (landline)
Director: Vijay Lalwani
Rating: Two stars
Mouse sweet mouse. He stumbles, bumbles, mumbles for as many as four years at a swankyish office. A cross between Rocket Singh and Woody Allen, he writes up a thousand-plus emails but doesn’t send them to the gorgeous woman in that see-through cabin who seems to be doing damn-all.Evidently, this guy’s not headed for any hall of fame or ill-fame. He’s just a crashing bore.
Yeah but you know the drift. The undermouse is just about to become a Mighty Mouse that roars crores, thanks to director Vijay Lalwani’s Karthik Calling Karthik, in principle an enterprise of potential. In fact, you’re all keyed up for a psycho-thriller which seeks to yoke matters of the heart with a disturbed mind. Dilwala meets Cuckoo? Huh, terrific.
Sorry to say, your high hopes crashland. The effort to get close to the main protagonist’s mind jungle is a bungle. Okay, so he plays around with a Rubik’s Cube. So what?And no distinction is made at all between psycho-analysis and psychiatry. That’s a huge flaw, indicating the director-writer’s shallow understanding of the distinct disciplines. All you get is an over-dolled up shrink, who looks more more serious than a stockbroker reading the year’s budget. She’s quite a giggle, portrayed starchily by the usually bankable Shifaali Shah (her spelling, not mine). Once she plays around with fingers, then she wears a shawl, then she looks utterly distraught. Quite a Freud egg bhurji, she.
To be fair, the screenplay does kick off engrossingly enough, describing the daily beat of meek Karthik (Farhan Akhtar). He deals with a greedy landlord (know any other types?), blends into the workplace woodwork, is terrorised by a beastly boss (Ram Kumar hamming as if he was portraying Idi Amin), and our little mouse also gazes at that see-through cabin woman (Deepika Padukone) the way a kid longs for a lollipop. More: there are those childhood-related, soft-focus nightmares in which his big brother wanted to push him into a well (puhlease). Luck by chance, the big bro plunged and perished himself. Oh well, a vague allusion, this, to Hollywood’s Ordinary People.
Thanks to Alexander Graham Bell’s wunderbar invention, life reverses. At 5 am, a voice over the phone tells Mousy what to do. Abracadabra. Landlord’s falling at his feet, Beastly Boss decrees a super promotion, See-Through is quaffing coffee with him in Aati-Kya-Khandala, and they’re even pubbing besides making cool conversation about taking advantage of each other in a drunken stupor. Mercifully, no one cries, “Humse bhool ho gayee.” Aieeeee.
So far, so okay. Then the pyscho-babble comes on thick as a brick. Mighty is back to being Mouse again, even taking off for a blind trip to South India (even he must not know where he’s headed). The last section of this overly-long 16-reeler, alas, places your teeth at edge. The screenplay becomes ridiculous,. Plus, who-cares-for-the-viewer editing cuts are used to skip over the rank implausibilities of the plot. Can’t show it (a suicide aftermath scene), forget it. Although the dialogue is hip, the twists and turns of the dramaturgy are anything but. To elaborate on this aspect would mean too many spoilers. Suffice it say, you can’t understand why there are so many repetitions of, “Are you mad?”, “Are you okay”, “You need help.”
So do you. Illnesses are being tackled by the movies nowadays, the only outsanding result being Taare Zameen Par. This one deals with schizophrenia but superficially and ponderously. Literally, a character is shown reading a book titled “Understanding Schizophrenia.” Wow…you learn less about the subject than you did in the past from unaffected thrillers like Red Rose in or the black-and-white drama Raat aur Din.
Frequently, the tempo crawls like a snail on tranquilisers. The background songs and montages post-intermission are redundant. As for the backstories for both Mouse and See-Through Cabin Lady, naaaah, unless u count a hyper cousin who pops up like a Jack-in-the-box. All the supporting characters are caricatured, especially the Idi Amin Boss and an office Romeo, both of whom are reported to have wives and affairs. Tsk tsk.
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music is serviceable.On the upside, Sanu John Varghese’s cinematography is first-rate, muting the colours effectively. And the set décor displays excellent taste, particularly the black-and-white photos in Karthik’s apartment.
Of the cast, Deepika Padukone appears to be wobbly, unsure of how to play her part. By the way, if she’s shown to be a regular cigarette smoker, must she puff away like a novice? Farhan Akhtar, almost in every frame, has a likeable screen presence and acts competently. Still KCK adds up to little more than a wrong number.
Tags: Deepika Padukone, Farhan Akhtar, Karthik Calling Karthik, Karthik Calling Karthik Movie Review, Khalid Mohamed, Khalid Mohamed Reviews Karthik Calling Karthik, Vijay Lalwani
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Rahul Dholakia
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Varma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Sachin Kundalkar
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Hmm I’m gonna be watching the movie on sunday and then see if I’ll agree with your take Khalid saab.But something that I anticipated seems to be true after reading this post.Will not dwell upon it here as it will spoil the fun for the others
loading...
watching KCK nevertheless sir, it’s an ‘excel-ent.’ product! thanks for the review anyways. and what about Teen Patti? when’s that review comin’ out? Lookin’ forward to that. peace.
.
P.S. great headline. very timely. wishing you a very happy holi
loading...
Didn’t read the review, just the stars..
I was never disappointed with them.. 
I sure hope it aint that bad… Nevertheless watching it tomorrow.. As magic bhai said, it is from excel-ent.!!
loading...
i was gonna skip this movie anyways, the review just helps me re-affirm it
.
deepika is as beautiful as a rose-wood furniture which only looks good. she just can’t act, dammmit
.
as for farhan akhtar, although i liked him in LBC and Rock-On, i still think that he should stick to writing and directing movies. he is better off behind the camera than in front of it
.
will wait for a tv-premiere or pick-up the dvd when it releases
loading...
That’s true for almost all the movies released in recent time. If movie goes in third week in theatres then only it is worth watching there, otherwise wait for DVD release or TV premier.
loading...
@all ppl who have given me -ve votes: thanks. just shows that u cannot smell a bad movie from a distance and u actually want to watch it to believe it. and after watching,u will probably justify that it was worth-watching
.
a snippet from rajeev masand’s review: In the end, Karthik Calling Karthik appears confused and half-baked, and it commits that deadly unforgivable cinematic sin – it bores you!
.
a snippet from anupama chopra’s review: The characters don’t engage you emotionally and the mystery isn’t thrilling enough. The pacing is uneven but the fatal flaw is the limp resolution. I don’t want to give away too much but the plot’s big reveal is a disappointment. It’s all foreplay and no pay off.
.
yes, plz go ahead and give the above reviewers -ve votes too; while i laugh my a$$ off
loading...
Rajiv Masand and Anupama Chopra!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
loading...
That’s true for almost all the movies released in recent time. If movie goes in third week in theatres then only it is worth watching there, otherwise wait for DVD release or TV premier.
loading...
wow .. you are quoting Masand who claims that the premise was given away midway .. which is not true .. the movie takes a turn in second half ..
loading...
Well, Mayank Shekhar, the best critic around according to me has given a thumbs up to it.. Please quote him too alongside these masands and chopras …
loading...
Watched the movie today … Its not as bad as it is supposedly being labelled by these critics …. You want to save your money … Do it. No body is stopping you ..But nobdy has asked you for your future plans whether u watch it on TV or DVD.. And yes, Farhan akhtar is as good in front of the camera as he is behind it. He has done an excellent job.
loading...
u forgot to write, “PS: I have a thing against first time filmmakers. And I am supremely proud of it. That’s why the review.”
loading...
Eggjactly! Can not agree more….
loading...
Does anybody really understand these reviews ? ya phir meri english itni acchi nahi hai?
loading...
@Aseem – I too find it a bit hard to appreciate the review. Way too many references to unrelated stuff and an unmistakably condescending tone are not to my liking, but I guess his 2-star rating at least serves as a quick summary of his thoughts, if not supported by critical analysis in the main text.
loading...
LOL was wondering exactly the same.. I’d prefer rajasen’s reviews anyday..
loading...
These reviews are not meant for ill-informed, under-read, ignoratn dunces -So go ahead and please yourselves with RajaSens and others
loading...
(Editor’s Note : Comment deleted. Please comment on the film and/or counter the views mentioned in the article. No personal attack on the authors of PFC! )
loading...
(Editor’s Note : Comment deleted. Please comment on the film and/or counter the views mentioned in the article. No personal attack on the authors of PFC! )
loading...
SRK rocks…Kajol ditto
for everyone else…I will wiggle my big toe
loading...
this is how I would have ended the review
You may have problems with it. Yet it is a must-must-see.
PS: Am an unabashed Farhan fan…and supremely proud of it. No one else compares to him today.
hehehe
loading...
After that biased review of MNIK, I can’t trust KM one bit. So I’ll believe K Calling K is a crashing bore only after I see it.
loading...
It is worse than described here. I can’t believe somebody thought of making a film on this storyline. They could have made a documentary on schizophrenia instead. Anyway, due to Farhan Akhtar’s various interviews and the name of the movie, we already know that it is his alter ego (whatever that means)that is playing tricks. So, we know from the very beginning what this boring, slow film laboriously finds out towards the end. For convenience sake, our hero uses only landline phones.
Karthik’s life changes in the first 30-40 minutes of the film and then there is nothing to talk about or show. So, thereafter it’s only repetition of what is already established. Just because he lets out the secret of calls, the alter ego fellow does a summersault and lands him in trouble. This is very confusing and I am sure must be scientifically incorrect as well. There should be some consistency in his A.E.’s behaviour as well.
In the end you get to know (If you don’t know already) –
1.Schizophrenic people see and believe things that don’t exist. 2.Schizophrenia can be treated with medicines, counselling and love(!!) and most importantly
3.Yeh bimari chhoonese nahi failti! LOL
Don’t even wait for the DVD. Just forget it.
Editors note- pls avoid profanities.
loading...
dont judge the movie based on this reviewer…specially after MNIK’s biased review…
loading...
@Shawshank Red: there is a diff between the two reviews and the diff is that, in MNIK review khalid clearly mentioned that he is biased towards srk. so, dont judge the reviewer but judge the review.
loading...
“Do Karthik, Teen Patti, Everything Tatti”
Heard in a multiplex ticket booking line. I ROTFLed
loading...
How can somebody be witty and boring at the same time. you have the distinction sirji, just you have.
loading...
hopeless movie….dnt even think of watching it…pathetic movie…except that stupid chinese phone feature there is nothing in the movie…whole movie revolves around that chinese landline phone feature…
good publicity of chinese phones
loading...
A so-so review for a anticipated film. I guessed right with the storyline and title of the movie and it;s sure that to compel viewers to watch a 2.5 hours movie on this subject is a challenge even for master directors……I’d comment on this movie and KM’s review after watching it. I’d definitely as Am an unabashed Farhan fan…and supremely proud of it. No one else compares to him today.
loading...
who cares about this boring films anyways man.
loading...
People always cry that bollywood movies are all the same..but when someone tries to do something different.. forget the audience, the reviewers also do not follow the movie..
KCK is way ahead of its time.. according to me, its s nice effort and a decent movie..Anytime KCK over MNIK..
If the same movie was mde in the WEST, people wud be praising the shit of this movie..
I still have doubt if this movie is a copy, hard to believe that our writers thought abt this concept..
loading...
Used to enjoy reading your reviews back in the TOI days, even when I disagreed with you. Haven’t seen the movie so can’t comment on that, but loved the constant play of words.
Keep it going! (Of course you didn’t need me to tell you that, but the Internet has a curious way of making everything we think seem ultra-important and worth-saying. Oh well)
loading...
No offence to the reviewer, but giving away major plot-points in his/her review is a complete no-no (regardless of the reviewers opinion of the movie). Also, the movie does deserve a lot more credit than what’s been written here. Wonder why more and more reviewers are out to display their prowess in the word-play and wit department than the actual “objective” review of the movie. Ohh well, this is an independent website so…can’t complain about that. IMO – it is a competent effort from a first time director and Farhan clearly shows a big leap in his acting skills with each movie. The film has a number of scenes where his underplaying and subtelty in terrific(exactly what Saurabh Shukla advises him to not do in Luck By Chance). Well done Excel Entertainment.
loading...
You said what I wanted to .. Thanks.
[Editors Note (ts): Please do not post personal attacks on PFC]
loading...
I totally agree with Ajit and Avi on this. the film is a very good debut effort by vijay lalwani. Its well shot, great acting by farhan. a tad long (the second half) but overall a nice film.
loading...
KCK exudes surrealism. Read my review here: http://www.piedpiper3409.co.cc/2010/03/karthik-calling-karthik-is-all-about.html
Thanks
loading...
khalid bhai,
I do not agree with you…i saw the movie yesterday..it’s good worthy enough to get 3 stars as per your standards(I remember you giving a classic like Dev D 4 stars)..Farhan is just awsome..1st half a lil monotonous…but 2nd half is damn good ..go and watch it guys
loading...
This is the man who gave 4 and 5 stars to unadulterated crap from Yashraj! Admittedly, this is not an Oscar winning effort( or should I say, Filmfare, khaled saab, since that seems more your forte) but I honestly think that this was great first effort and definitely niche-creating.
I think Mayank Shekhar ( a reviewer in the same genre) has a far more balanced( and may I say cultured) view of modern Indian Cinema. Maybe it comes of not having to write odes to the big families of bollywood regularly in return of unrestricted access to their personal selves.
ALl said, I do thik this reviewer has been super unfair. Go see the movie, if you are the sort who likes a bit of brains and some dark wit in your soup..For all others, there is MNIK..( And no, I dont dislike SRK. Infact, I have seen DDLJ about 40 times..)
loading...
Totally biased review, if you can give MNIK four stars then this one should get five.
The film has it’s flaws but it’s a sincere attempt and much better than most of the manipulative stuff that comes out of the big banner/actor combo in Bollywood.
loading...
it was an awesome movie which highlights the power of our subconcious mind to desire and do impossible things. great inspiration.
loading...
Editors Note : Comment Deleted. Please restrict your discussions to the film
loading...
great story really i am pressed…. enjoye
loading...
yaar, i can’t understand ending, was he Dead ? and suddenly scene changed and he picked a call of doctor . must reply plz
loading...
the falshbacks(frahan’s deeply going through the very incidence of his brother’s endeavor to push him down the well),seems very clichéd,yet you overcome it,reassure yourself that it is farhan known for DCH and you succumb to the very appearance of him on the screen.
loading...