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. Extraordinary 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.
"Krrish" takes us into the world of masked fantasy where
the stakes are incredibly high... as high as the computer-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 a sense of slackening in the 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
Krrish'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 kitsch 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 élan of Hrithik
Roshan as he glides across the frames in strides that replicate the
measured might of a panther.
Make no mistake, "Krrish" 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 "Krrish",
Hrithik is required to make the transition from a simpleton in the village
with superpowers 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 "Krrish" has something extra-special
those films didn't. Hrithik Roshan.