'Kai Po Che' is yet another film based on the works of noted youth writer Chetan Bhagat. While the book was a hit with the youth, so is the movie. Directed by Abhishek Kapoor of 'Rock On!!' fame, it was overall a good watch.
It started off with Govind (Raj Kumar) giving a presentation about his company 'Sabarmati Sports' supplying sports equipment to various institutions across India. And then suddenly we are taken to the lanes of Ahmedabad, Gujarat in the year 1999. It comes across as a simpler time without the recent innovations of high tech cellphones, and tablets.
The story, set in the old parts of the culturally rich city of Gujarat, 'Amdavad' comes across as a breath of fresh air among today's cinema. The element of authenticity on the part of the director and the cast was simply amazing. Before going into the theater I thought to myself, this was going to be another one of those bollywood movies set in Gujarat, but somewhere are not very real to life, the humble gujju way of life, lives of people that slyly turn in Amdavad's 'pols'.
Having spent the formative years of my childhood in Baroda, Gujarat, I could very well understand the grappling situations which the three of the protagonists were facing. The direction is fantastic, with each frame with its unique touch of Gujarat, be it the actors hurling Gujarati abuses, giving speeches in Gujarati or coyly calling each other 'bakaa'. The filmmakers have truly captured the essence of Gujarat which is rare for a Bollywood production.
I was naturally impressed with the whole cinematography and the screenplay which reeked of Gujarat, but the moment the earthquake of January 26th, 2001, shook up the characters on screen, suddenly I was taken to my childhood, and remembered those days of utter confusion and chaos and of course fear as I had never experienced an earthquake, leave away experience, I had never even known what an earthquake is. The intricacies of the difficult situations, and the friction between various groups for the proper rehabilitation in different camps was just perfect. You cannot be the judge of the authenticity of such an arduous situation without actually experiencing it first hand, yet the grapple between one of the story's protagonist Ishaan (Sushant Singh Rajput) and a member of the Omi's (Amit Sadh) party was something very real to life.
A lot of attention was paid to the minute details of each frame, and the film was actually able to transport the audience to Amdavad. The aftermath of the earthquake, the rehabilitation camps, the Godhra kaand, the aftermath of the Godhra kaand were all peculiarly portrayed without any fine detail going amiss. The complex situations that had arisen after the incident at Godhra were so perfectly shown, be it Govind telling his buddy Ishaan over the phone in hushed tones that its not safe outside, or the scene in which Omi forces his way through Ishaan's student Ali's home, it was all so believable.
The whole cast, even though was particularly new to the audience, yet they played the characters well. All characters seemed closer to life. The plot was well written and the screenplay was clever. The background score too was good, in complete sync with the emotions and intricacies of the situations. The only thing which was not quite authentic, and hence up to the mark, was the navratri sequence. The so called 'garba' was a total bollywood song 'Pari Hoon Main', which looks somewhat out of place in a traditional Gujarati setting, as hindi songs being played at Garbas is not the trend in Gujarat. Melodies like 'Indhana Veenva' or 'Tara Vina Shyam Mane' could have done much more justice to it.
So all in all, its a good watch, will give you a quick trip and insight into the humble Gujju life. It will surely give you goosebumps if you have actually suffered those traumatic experiences. I'm no certified film critic, but as they say "Audience is the biggest critic", so I award this movie 3.5 stars.
The story, set in the old parts of the culturally rich city of Gujarat, 'Amdavad' comes across as a breath of fresh air among today's cinema. The element of authenticity on the part of the director and the cast was simply amazing. Before going into the theater I thought to myself, this was going to be another one of those bollywood movies set in Gujarat, but somewhere are not very real to life, the humble gujju way of life, lives of people that slyly turn in Amdavad's 'pols'.
Having spent the formative years of my childhood in Baroda, Gujarat, I could very well understand the grappling situations which the three of the protagonists were facing. The direction is fantastic, with each frame with its unique touch of Gujarat, be it the actors hurling Gujarati abuses, giving speeches in Gujarati or coyly calling each other 'bakaa'. The filmmakers have truly captured the essence of Gujarat which is rare for a Bollywood production.
I was naturally impressed with the whole cinematography and the screenplay which reeked of Gujarat, but the moment the earthquake of January 26th, 2001, shook up the characters on screen, suddenly I was taken to my childhood, and remembered those days of utter confusion and chaos and of course fear as I had never experienced an earthquake, leave away experience, I had never even known what an earthquake is. The intricacies of the difficult situations, and the friction between various groups for the proper rehabilitation in different camps was just perfect. You cannot be the judge of the authenticity of such an arduous situation without actually experiencing it first hand, yet the grapple between one of the story's protagonist Ishaan (Sushant Singh Rajput) and a member of the Omi's (Amit Sadh) party was something very real to life.
A lot of attention was paid to the minute details of each frame, and the film was actually able to transport the audience to Amdavad. The aftermath of the earthquake, the rehabilitation camps, the Godhra kaand, the aftermath of the Godhra kaand were all peculiarly portrayed without any fine detail going amiss. The complex situations that had arisen after the incident at Godhra were so perfectly shown, be it Govind telling his buddy Ishaan over the phone in hushed tones that its not safe outside, or the scene in which Omi forces his way through Ishaan's student Ali's home, it was all so believable.
The whole cast, even though was particularly new to the audience, yet they played the characters well. All characters seemed closer to life. The plot was well written and the screenplay was clever. The background score too was good, in complete sync with the emotions and intricacies of the situations. The only thing which was not quite authentic, and hence up to the mark, was the navratri sequence. The so called 'garba' was a total bollywood song 'Pari Hoon Main', which looks somewhat out of place in a traditional Gujarati setting, as hindi songs being played at Garbas is not the trend in Gujarat. Melodies like 'Indhana Veenva' or 'Tara Vina Shyam Mane' could have done much more justice to it.
So all in all, its a good watch, will give you a quick trip and insight into the humble Gujju life. It will surely give you goosebumps if you have actually suffered those traumatic experiences. I'm no certified film critic, but as they say "Audience is the biggest critic", so I award this movie 3.5 stars.
