Kedarnath Movie Review: Heavy Downpour Of Melodrama From The Clouds Of Absurdity!
Kedarnath is watchable just for Sushant Singh Rajput, Sara Ali Khan and its cinematography.
Kedarnath Movie Review Rating: 2/5 Stars (Two stars)
Star Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Sara Ali Khan, Alka Amin, Nishant Dahiya, Pooja Gor & a flood of unnecessary melodrama
Director: Abhishek Kapoor
What’s Good: The love story angle of Sushant & Sara is very well written till the first half, cinematography captures the essence of Kedarnath very realistically & both the lead performers are delightful (at places)!
What’s Bad: A very mediocre attempt at telling a story which had all the right ingredients to make a good film, even a very tight 120 minutes seem to be too long because of the tedious second half.
Loo Break: Only in the interval… If possible don’t go back in!
Watch or Not?: This isn’t a tear-jerker, it jerks your sensibilities to evoke some tears out of you (these aren’t the natural ones). Watch it only for the lead pair, that too on television, only when you’ve nothing to do on a lazy Sunday!
Mansoor Khan (Sushant Ali Khan) is a pitthoo in Kedarnath who ports the visitors on his back helping them to cover the trekking distance and reach the temple. Mandakani Mishra aka Mukku (Sara Ali Khan) is the daughter of a wealthy priest who also owns some hotels in that area. They both are fond of cricket & that helps them to get so close to each other so they kiss in a cave.
“Even your mule will be smart enough to understand that this love story isn’t possible,” says the sister of Mukku, Brinda (Pooja Gor) to Mansoor. It goes without saying that Mukku’s family strongly disagree with her relationship. In a very naive track, we get to know how Mukku is already engaged to marry another guy. All this amidst the mayhem created by the flood comprises a very boring second half.
Kedarnath Movie Review: Script Analysis
Whenever Bollywood doesn’t get anything to evoke the emotional connection in their paper-thin love stories, a religious, controversial, forced connect takes birth in the script. Same is the case with Kedarnath. It’s 2018 and we’re over thousands of love stories, Kedarnath offers nothing new. The only fresh things in this story lie somewhere in the first half & rest of the story is just another tale with the backdrop of a natural disaster.
It would be unfair to blame Abhishek solely for this mess because the movie is uninteresting from the script level itself. Kanika Dhillon’s story is full of flaws, hence making the film as an unbearable watch. People who will compare this with Titanic, PLEASE DON’T mock the classic. The backstory of Mansoor’s dad works very well until the makers decide to ruin it at the very last minute.
Kedarnath Movie Review: Star Performance
Sushant Singh Rajput is marvellous in his act. He carries a bag of various expressions with him with the confidence of using it at the proper time. He fails to grab the accent of a Pahari guy but is perfect with his body language.
The beautiful reflection of her mother, Amrita Singh, Sara Ali Khan leaves a mark with her debut performance. She’s very good in most of the scenes barring a few of the emotional ones. Still, need some brushing but she’s definitely a star to look out for.
Alka Amin is pretty good as Mansoor’s mother & emotes her expressions beautifully. Nishant Dahiya faces the flak of poor writing & his character just doesn’t click even for a single scene. Same as him, even Pooja Gor’s role adds nothing substantial to the script.
Kedarnath Movie Review: Direction, Music
Abhishek Kapoor’s direction goes well with the theme but it’s of no use because of the silly story. Everything just dips down the drain with every passing scene. All the build-up remains the only best thing about the film. There was a base of the very strong, relatable story but the narrow vision of the makers ruins everything.
Amit Trivedi’s song pops up as a saving grace. Apart From Sweetheart, all the other three songs serve their purpose. Jaan Nisaar, being best of the lot, is placed very poorly. Hitesh Sonik’s background score is good but not at the level of few amazing ones we’ve heard this year.
Kedarnath Movie Review: The Last Word
All said and done, Kedarnath is watchable just for Sushant Singh Rajput, Sara Ali Khan and its cinematography. There’s nothing you’ll take back with you once the lights turn on. This plot required a special treatment to establish the connection & the makers fail at the base level itself. Skip it!
Two stars!
Kedarnath Trailer
Kedarnath releases on 07th December, 2018.