by Subhash K Jha
Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Rekha, Naseeruddin Shah
Directed by Rakesh Roshan
Rating: ***
Is it a bird, it is a plane? No it's Hrithik Roshan!!!
It's not enough to say that Hrithik is one of the best actors of the country.
Extroardinary is the word for the measured manner in which he glides
through the air to the beat of Rajesh Roshan's rather-vapid songs…or
cuts through the breeze to the stunning special effects created with a
verve so- far unknown to Indian cinema.
Krissh takes us into the world of masked fantasy where the stakes are
incredibly high…as high as the F-X-generated leaps that the super-hero
takes as he tries to save the world from the clutches of a
megalomaniacal villain with a glint in his eyes that can only belong to
Naseeruddin Shah.
Though there's sense of slackening in earlier portions of the lengthy
narrative, the last lap of this luscious voyage into comic-book fantasy
is undertaken in a spirit of complete conviction and credibility.
You can't miss the sign-posts. We've seen so many Bollywood heroes
doing heart-in-the-mouth stunts. But never in an Indian film have we
seen a hero look so elegant and relaxed as he glides over water and
mountains to vanquish the power-crazy villain.
Though the scripting in the first-half reveals signs of formulistic
fatigue (scenes where the village-bred Hrithik tries to spook the
globe-trotting journalist Priyanka Chopra are straight out of a Joy
Mukherjee-Asha Parekh musical from the 1960s) the second half revs up
proceeds to an exceeding high precipitating the kind of action and
thrills that have so far been alien to Hindi cinema.
The scripting in the second-half specially the portions that show
Krissh's father (Hrithik doing a double role) and the villain reading
the future to see their own impending deaths, are masterstrokes of
plotting invention.
Quaintly Rakesh Roshan mixes old formulistic conventions with sights
and sounds never seen before. The synthesis is not just inviting but
also enticing in ways that re-define the cult of kitch and escapism in
our cinema.
It's not enough to get technicians from abroad to do the action. Other
Hindi films have tried it before. But none with the super-sonic élan of
Hrithik Roshan. Proving once again to be the master of the cinematic
frame Hrithik glides across the frames in strides that replicate the
measured might of a panther .
Make no mistake, Krissh belongs to Hrithik Roshan. He again displays
his skills at dancing, fighting emoting and just being comfortable with
the camera without once letting the sweat of the toil trickle into the
frames. Here's an actor who stubbornly re-defines the concept of screen
heroism with every performance.
In Krissh Hrithik is required to make the transition from a simpleton
in the village with super-powers to a masked crusader in Bangkok. He
brings to the film's fantasy element a kind of innocence underlined by
a subtle swagger that furnishes the duality of the masked character the
musk of masculinity and vulnerability. His initial romantic sequences
in a designer-dhoti with Priyanka Chopra are endearing. The two make a
believable pair. However Priyanka is unnaturally subdued, the fire
doused by the overall dynamics of the goings-on.
Hrithik's scenes with his screen-grandmom Rekha exude warmth, though it's hard to accept Rekha as a grand-mom.
Naseeruddin Shah as Hrithik's opponent is so cool you wish there was
more of him. Priyanka Chopra's character represents the reluctant
forces of cut-throat ambition that threaten all the heroic innocence of
the supernaturally blessed hero.
We've seen it before in Superman, Batman and King Kong. But our Krissh has something extra-special those films didn't.