Kambakkht Ishq - Movie Review

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Aftab Shivdasani, Amrita Arora, Sylvester Stallone, Denise Richards, Vindu Dara Singh, Javed Jaaferi

Director: Sabbir Khan

Producer: Sajid Nadiadwala

Rating: *1/2

How many times have you come across some Santa-Banta jokes and taken the silly ideas behind them too seriously? Never? Well, Sajid Nadiadwala and Sabbir Khan just did the opposite. Who would in their sane mind work out a story out of a joke which is so old that it does not even make you laugh anymore? Without a doubt the film does no better.

After a year and half of super hype, Kambakkht Ishq finally hit the screens and what a royal disappointment! The film has nothing going for it. It has a worryingly bad script, horrible screenplay, traumatising dialogues and unpleasant music. And it has two huge stars desperately trying to sound foul and falling flat. So lame is the film that the director has to continually attempt at making people laugh by adding unwanted, done-to-death scenes like chaos at a wedding party. If any of these ever manage to move your jaws, it is likely that it won’t be for a laugh but rather for a yawn.

Kambakkht Ishq is about Viraj Shergill (Akshay Kumar), a stuntman, and Simrita (Kareena Kapoor), a model-cum-wannabe-surgeon. It is about the clash of their egos and how they demean each other at every possible instance. And neither do they want their friends, Lucky (Aftab Shivdasani) and Kamini (Amrita Arora), who want to get married, to stay together. For Viraj, women are meant just for physical pleasures, while Simrita says men can never love anyone. And this is carried on for the entire first half! Only in the latter part of the film the story moves ahead and explains the characters. But then even that is done in a hurry and too late. Also, it ends up making a mockery of the star status of Sylvester Stallone and Denise Richards.

Questions that I would like to ask the director:

1)    Which doctor would ever wear a watch which looks like a bracelet to the operation theatre?

2)    Why would Sylvester Stallone walk around in a shady neighbourhood in a sweatshirt and baggy jeans? And then he says  Kambakkht Ishq just for kicks. Why Hindi!

3)    Denise Richards’ marriage has just a few media guys trying to pry. Whatever happened to the paparazzi!

4)    Why was Javed Jaaferi’s character introduced? And where did it disappear?

5)    Why would a doctor not tell her patient what the problem is directly rather than playing the kambakkht ishq game?

These are just a few. The biggest question undoubtedly is why they decided to make the film!

Okay, the film does have a couple of moments to its credit. The scene when Viraj gets an award from Sylvester Stallone is moving. The Indian boy’s triumph in foreign land is played well. There are a couple of other fleeting moments when Kareena gets emotional and makes you feel better about the film. But that’s about it.

Performance-wise, Denise Richards’ act makes us grieve about her presence in the film. Her expression in the last scene is convincing as to what a great injustice the film has been to her! And let’s not even start on the Italian Stallion! Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor are good but are let down by the script. Aftab and Amrita hardly get any scope and Javed Jaaferi is unwanted.

Overall, Akshay Kumar’s tall claims of getting Hollywood to India have ended in a sorry state. Kambakkht Ishq is on par with Chandni Chowk to China, if not worse. Starting 2008, the golden run seems to have ended for Akshay Kumar and if he does not start choosing better scripts he would end up with more torturous products. Kambakkht Ishq is a shame when it comes to watching Indian films on the world stage. Rest your call.

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