Film – Kalank
Filmmaker – Abhishek Varman
Film Cast –Madhuri Dixit, Sonakshi Sinha, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sanjay Dutt, Kunal Khemu, Kiara Advani, Kriti Sanon.
Kalank, the film does get promoted with a tagline, eternal love, but it is more like internal struggle and tussle between morality and desires.
Abhishek Varman directorial is a classic example of the fact that past is never actually buried; it keeps cropping up via new generation and new dynamics. The film and its characters are skin deep and multi layered to the point where one could actually relate to some of the situations and heart-aches in the film.
Morality, Family Ties and society going berserk definitely keeps you engaged for the major part of the film. Indian cinema hasn’t seen such an epic budget movie set during the time of partition, so it does offer newness but it also goes downhill with clichéd relationship tussle.
There are multiple dynamics the film runs-on, starting with an old romance, Madhuri and Sanjay, playing Baahar Begum and Balraj, a problematic equation between father and son duo, Dev and Balraj, there is a teacher-student relationship between Bahaar Begum and Roop and of course there is eternal love between a daredevil blacksmith Zafar and already married Roop.
There is one more dynamic which actually got the whole thing rolling, Dev being married to Satya (Sonakshi), who is terminally ill. Then there is a sublime hidden gem in this story, which provides much needed mileage, Abdul (Kunal Khemu), who has political agendas.
And now add them in hot boiling situation of partition and voila, Kalank, unfolds.
The eternal saga of love set in 1940s is indeed a treat to the eyes, massive sets, stunning designer outfits and fantastic jewellery along with celebration of almost all known Indian festival in the movie, does contribute to the fact, it is almost 2 hours 48 minutes long ride. It is inevitably a touch stretched movie with plot and character almost running out of gas in the end.
Watch it if you must!
