21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Just imagine..., May 23, 2007
This review is from: Krrish (DVD)
First, let me quickly mention KOI MIL GAYA, a 2003 film about a mentally handicapped man named Rohit who receives superhuman powers from a space alien. KRRISH is the 2006 sequel, which then tells the story of Rohit's son, Krishna. KRRISH also unleashes India's first film superhero, which probably has something to do with this film breaking all sorts of Indian box office records.
KRRISH opens with the very young and chubby boy Krishna Mehra unveiling his precocious talents to his astounded school instructors, who begin to test him for his I.Q. level. Krishna's grandmother (Rekha), fearful of the consequences, takes Krishna far, far away and raises him in the isolation of the forests and mountains. Years later, Krishna (Hrithik Roshan) is now an innocent, sheltered (but very well muscled) young man, at peace with nature and its creatures. And he grins a lot, I'm assuming because he's pure of heart or something. It's at this stage that he meets the visiting Priya (Priyanka Chopra), whom he saves when her glider collides with a tree. In spending time with Priya, Krishna reveals his superhuman abilities as he becomes smitten with her. When Priya, who's only in India on a 15 day vacation, returns to Singapore, Krishna is grief stricken. Priya, too, doesn't feel too well, but it's because she and her friend Honey realize that they're reporting 5 days late to their jobs at a media network. On the verge of being fired, Honey tells their boss about Krishna and his talents. Honey convinces the reluctant Priya to use the pretense of love to get Krishna to Singapore. But, really, they want to put him on television and, thus, save their jobs.
If this sounds like I'm giving away the whole story, you're wrong. That's only a smidgen of what goes on in this film. I'll sum up the rest of the plot in one sentence: Krishna does end up in Singapore, inadvertently becomes a superhero, and foils the uncool plan of an evil, egotistical scientist.
For Bollywood, KRRISH is big scale movie making. It's your quintessential escapist flick and displays an unabashed sense of fun and enthusiasm. The filmmakers really went to work on this one, although there's still that trademark frivolity present, which is a signature of most Bollywood films. Now, this movie is 3 hours long, so when I say that the bulk of the movie's first half deals with the sugary-sweet love story between Krishna and career girl Priya, well, that's a lot of comedy romance for a superhero flick. The superhero element is still there, throughout, as Krishna does persist in engaging in impossible feats, but this element is overshadowed by the romance. But, following the sizzling musical number at the circus, Krrish is born and the action begins and then never relents.
I thought the special effects rocked. Stunt choreographer Tony Ching Siu-tung (HERO, SHAOLIN SOCCER, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS) concocts exhilarating wire-fu stunts, quite reminiscent of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. In his black leather duster and black, zigzagged circus mask, Krrish looks amazing, very cool. He performs acrobatics, swims like a dolphin, leaps to improbable heights, and performs wushu. There's also an undeniable nod to THE MATRIX. The fight scenes are slick and without the amateurish fight sound effects Bollywood usually inflicts on its films. Really, the only effect which sucks is the unconvincing sequence with the forest backdrop where Krrish is kicking ninja booty in super speed.
As directed by his father Rakesh Roshan (who also directed him in KOI MIL GAYA), I thought Hrithik did a fine job of acting in both the roles of Krishna and his look-alike dad Rohit. He portrays both Krishna and Rohit with such distinct and differing personalities that his playing dual parts never really becomes a distraction. His Krishna is so effervescent and (dare I say?) so soulful a character that I couldn't help but like and root for him. Even though he does fling that "Ain't I hunky?" grin way too often. Rekha as Sonia Mehra, Krishna's grandma, turns in a real good performance, especially when she strays from her character's stoic persona and turns on the water works. Naseeruddin Shah as the evil scientist Dr. Siddhant Arya gets a chance to cut loose, and he gleefully obliges us with a patented Master Villain-ish effort. Priyanka Chopra is beautiful, no doubt, but she's only decent here, suffering from Lois Lane-itis as she does. How could Priya not know that Krrish is Krishna? You think the similarity in names just might be a clue? And if she already knows someone with special powers, and then someone in the same vicinity shows up displaying special powers but in a costume, then this might be a hint that it's the same dude, right? Aargh!
And, of course, there's the songs, but only four of them here, although KRRISH oddly doesn't indulge in its first musical number until about 40 minutes into it. Once again, Hrithik shows off his grace and fluidity in dancing. I really like the circus number, where he busts some serious moves. Priyanka also acquits herself well in these musical numbers. But I've seen her do better. And since I'm babbling on about music here, a mention must go out to the appropriately grandiose score, which meshes very well with the superhero component.
The 2-disc dvd set is handsomely packaged. Disc one has the movie presentation. Disc two contains these following special features: "Hrithik's Journey: KOI MIL GAYA to KRRISH" which is your default making-of segment; "Action Cuts" (24 minutes long, focuses mostly on the stunts and includes Hrithik going to Hong Kong to train in wushu); "Making of the Music" - an in-depth, 21-plus-minutes-long look into the film's songs; Red Carpet for KRRISH in London, including interviews with the cast and director (21 plus minutes); and the theatrical trailer. For those concerned, there's enough English used in these features by cast and crew that the language barrier becomes a non-issue.
Even though the movie length is almost as long as this review, KRRISH is fun popcorn fare. No, it's not perfect or original. It borrows heavily from THE MATRIX, PAYCHECK, and, of course, a ton of superhero films. But the end result is worth watching for its sheer exuberance and gall. There really are some dynamic, visually cool action moments here. One of my favorite scenes (and I have quite a few favorites here) is Krrish set on a panoramic cityscape as he indefatigably pursues a helicopter. Very nice, extended chase sequence. With KRRISH 2 having already been announced, things are looking good for India's only superhero, and I cannot wait to see what happens next. To echo the oft repeated quote in this film: "Just imagine..."
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