Finally, I managed to catch the much awaited Indian flick Kites. I must make it clear that I watched the movie a week after it's release by when it had received a truck load of negative reviews. Almost everyone I spoke to suggested that I give this a miss. But, considering that I don't usually consider critics' reviews as a deciding factor in my selection of movies, I decided to go ahead and watch it thinking that I might as well see what's so bad about it myself. The end-result - it wasn't that bad but it definitely wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be either.
The plot goes thus: J (is that Jay / Jai / simply J ???), is a street-smart carefree dude who manages to make a living in Vegas by performing stunts and marrying women to provide them with Green Cards in exchange for money. He's looking for that one big moment - that will change his life forever. And he manages to stumble across that moment when he realizes that Gina (Kangana Ranaut), who is madly and obsessively in love with J (Hrithik Roshan), is the daughter of Bob (Kabir Bedi) - a millionaire and the owner of a highly profitable casino (business). J manages to impress him and gains an entry into their family where he meets Gina's brother Tony's (Nicholas Brown) fiancée Natasha (Barbara Mori) (who it turns out is one of the women he married for a Green Card). Sparks fly, they fall in love, and decide to leave all the wealth and elope (sort of). The rest of the movie revolves around Tony deploying his forces after the couple and the twists and turns that follow.
The problems with Kites are many. First of all, the plot, although looks detailed, is fairly thin with huge plot holes. Agreed, almost every movie has them but a whole lot of movies (especially Hollywood movies) at least try to induce an element of believability to the goings on. Kites doesn't even come close to achieving that. Then, the writing is something which I found to be extremely inconsistent as far as pacing goes; the movie proceeds slowly in most areas and then, all of a sudden, it moves extremely fast at the pace of a thriller. This is best visible towards the end when the movie literally becomes a roller-coaster ride. How I wish the movie had such a pacing throughout. Perhaps such consistent pacing could have helped. Also, the Hindi subtitles can detract from the experience and serve as a distraction. They would've been better in English.
Many people here have complained that the first half of the movie is slow and disengaging. I'd disagree on that. In fact, I believe the first half of the movie has more substance than the second half - which largely consists of chase sequences. Plus, the moments between J and Natasha during the second half can get quite boring since neither are they engrossing nor do they offer any character development. Anurag's direction may not be really at fault here, in fact some sequences are handled really very well (for me these were the opening sequence, scenes in the first half and the ending). The ending really worked for me - without revealing anything, I would say that this is the sort of ending that I had actually been expecting from the current crop of movies since a long time.
Of course, Kites does have it's share of pluses as well. For one, the cinematography is simply top-notch giving it the feel of a Hollywood movie. Editing is also good although despite its short length, it could still do with some more trimming (Kites: The Remix anyone ???). Music is pretty average and sometimes boring though the background score is excellent (especially the Spanish / English song which plays in the background and is prominently heard through most of the trailers). Action is commendable, even though it comes with it's own flaws. The movie plays out with alternating flashbacks which makes for a good experience and also provides the viewer with a fair amount of suspense, keeping you guessing.
The performances are again a low point. Hrithik pitches in a dependable performance as usual. His dance sequence in the Fire song is to be seen to be believed. Kangana does good (though I don't see how her role is a guest appearance) and so does Barbara. The rest are just caricatures. Dialogues are again quite poor. Neither do they pack some punch, nor do they feel natural. And of course, the much touted sex scene between Hrithik and Barbara is over in a flash - it almost becomes a blink and you miss it affair.
On the whole though, in case you're considering to watch Kites, I'd recommend that instead of making a decision based on reviews of other people, you watch the movie for yourself and decide. Kites is a fairly good movie and is commendable for it's effort and the intention of it's makers. If you ask me, I'd say that although it has many shortcomings, it still should be worth a watch. (Now am I seeing a thumbs-down on this review already ???)
Score: 6.0 / 10
The plot goes thus: J (is that Jay / Jai / simply J ???), is a street-smart carefree dude who manages to make a living in Vegas by performing stunts and marrying women to provide them with Green Cards in exchange for money. He's looking for that one big moment - that will change his life forever. And he manages to stumble across that moment when he realizes that Gina (Kangana Ranaut), who is madly and obsessively in love with J (Hrithik Roshan), is the daughter of Bob (Kabir Bedi) - a millionaire and the owner of a highly profitable casino (business). J manages to impress him and gains an entry into their family where he meets Gina's brother Tony's (Nicholas Brown) fiancée Natasha (Barbara Mori) (who it turns out is one of the women he married for a Green Card). Sparks fly, they fall in love, and decide to leave all the wealth and elope (sort of). The rest of the movie revolves around Tony deploying his forces after the couple and the twists and turns that follow.
The problems with Kites are many. First of all, the plot, although looks detailed, is fairly thin with huge plot holes. Agreed, almost every movie has them but a whole lot of movies (especially Hollywood movies) at least try to induce an element of believability to the goings on. Kites doesn't even come close to achieving that. Then, the writing is something which I found to be extremely inconsistent as far as pacing goes; the movie proceeds slowly in most areas and then, all of a sudden, it moves extremely fast at the pace of a thriller. This is best visible towards the end when the movie literally becomes a roller-coaster ride. How I wish the movie had such a pacing throughout. Perhaps such consistent pacing could have helped. Also, the Hindi subtitles can detract from the experience and serve as a distraction. They would've been better in English.
Many people here have complained that the first half of the movie is slow and disengaging. I'd disagree on that. In fact, I believe the first half of the movie has more substance than the second half - which largely consists of chase sequences. Plus, the moments between J and Natasha during the second half can get quite boring since neither are they engrossing nor do they offer any character development. Anurag's direction may not be really at fault here, in fact some sequences are handled really very well (for me these were the opening sequence, scenes in the first half and the ending). The ending really worked for me - without revealing anything, I would say that this is the sort of ending that I had actually been expecting from the current crop of movies since a long time.
Of course, Kites does have it's share of pluses as well. For one, the cinematography is simply top-notch giving it the feel of a Hollywood movie. Editing is also good although despite its short length, it could still do with some more trimming (Kites: The Remix anyone ???). Music is pretty average and sometimes boring though the background score is excellent (especially the Spanish / English song which plays in the background and is prominently heard through most of the trailers). Action is commendable, even though it comes with it's own flaws. The movie plays out with alternating flashbacks which makes for a good experience and also provides the viewer with a fair amount of suspense, keeping you guessing.
The performances are again a low point. Hrithik pitches in a dependable performance as usual. His dance sequence in the Fire song is to be seen to be believed. Kangana does good (though I don't see how her role is a guest appearance) and so does Barbara. The rest are just caricatures. Dialogues are again quite poor. Neither do they pack some punch, nor do they feel natural. And of course, the much touted sex scene between Hrithik and Barbara is over in a flash - it almost becomes a blink and you miss it affair.
On the whole though, in case you're considering to watch Kites, I'd recommend that instead of making a decision based on reviews of other people, you watch the movie for yourself and decide. Kites is a fairly good movie and is commendable for it's effort and the intention of it's makers. If you ask me, I'd say that although it has many shortcomings, it still should be worth a watch. (Now am I seeing a thumbs-down on this review already ???)
Score: 6.0 / 10