#Kalank – Kukarm!!! PK Verdicts: Tin**

Abhishek Varman the director gives Dharma Productions its biggest Kalank. Varun Dhawan’s and Alia Bhatt’s probably first flop that doesn’t live up to the audience’s expectations. Film may crawl over a decent box office considering the cast and the long weekend. Since you are reading this; save yourself from Kalank this weekend.

It’s a dream turned into a doom. It is quite a while we saw heroines introduced the way Kalank does at an impressive scale. Alia Bhat’s entry similar to Aishwarya Rai’s introduction in “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam” is no coincidence. The director is definitely inspired by the Sanjay Leela Bhansali than Karan Johar. Madhuri Dixit seems to be Graduated from Chandramukhi to BahaarBegum running a “Kotha” as they call, the film is a slam down to this generation of audience giving them Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt in a time stamp that is a complete misfit. If SRK would have played Sanjay Dutt’s role, the film could have been called Devdas2 and Varun Dhawan  would have been Madhuri & SRK’s son making the film more saleable. That’s exactly what Varun Dhawan plays; son of Madhuri Dixit and Sanjay Dutt and the director thinks that’s the suspense which a smart audience would easily make out with the timely looks they exchange.

Varun Dhawan sits with new age Chunnilal (Aditya Roy Kapur) across the banks of the river where they meet coincidentally as per the director but it looks so obvious the made-up scene and yell like mad giving you the same ethos to yell and make you wonder if you could scream like them too stating “Main kyun Aaya Kalank dekhne”/ “why am I here” these are the questions you would ask. But wait a minute, Aditya Roy Kapur is not playing chunnilal, He is playing First Hand Husband to Second Hand Wife Alia Bhatt. Alia Bhatt a talent powerhouse is actually taken as a prop the way heroines were in the past. The director himself forgets that the film is set in which era. Alia Bhatt with other two sisters and bunch of Gaon Ki Gori’s are without any Ghoonghats in 1940’s painting the town red, dancing and playing Holi that doesn’t look India of 1940’s.

Sonakshi Sinha is leaving a husband behind after her terminal disease not a son that needs a mother to milk. She looks for a temporary employee in Alia Bhatt, Alia Bhatt wants to be a permanent one and proposes a marriage making you wonder what was Sonakshi Sinha expecting from Alia Bhat – A nurse to look after Aditya who is dapper, she forgets she is sick and not Aditya Roy Kapur. Pity this plot. Was it so easy to marry while one’s wife is alive in 1940’s Indian Tradition? – Balraj’s family – the entire film towards the end revolves around “Maan and Maryadha” of the Choudhary family. Phew!!! And it is the same Choudhary’s family who visited Bahaarbegum and brought Bahaar in Hira Mandi in Varun Dhawan. Bollywood’s outdated dictionary is back with words like “Haraami” repeatedly thrown on you. Hira Mandi which is almost walking distance from Choudhary’s mansion is a place where Raj-Bahu’s are not allowed to visit but Raj-men can visit anytime. Ages ago Balraj Visited and gifted ZAFAR to Hira Mandi and one random day you will find junior Choudhary Dev Choudhary (Aditya Roy Kapur) singing, dancing and celebrating Eid at Hira Mandi with Kriti Sanon doing an item number RIDICULOUSLY DONE. Was it the same Karan Johar who said on National Television that Dharma Production will never ever have an item song in their filmography? Big Question.

Oh! wait a minute there is Kunal Khemu as well adding up a layer of Partition that is a backdrop of a story. He has more screen presence than Sonakshi Sinha but less impact on the plot. That plot actually just doesn’t matter it is too parallel to integrate with the audience saga.
Music for this kind of film should have been a soul. None of the songs register and not even an item number for that matter. Ghar More Pardesiya is decent and by the time you reach “Tabah ho Gaye” you laugh out loud stating Dharma Production’s Kalank, paisa aur time Tabah kar gaye. Madhuri Dixit’s Thumka’s work but music doesn’t really bring any thirak. Too much of talent wasted here, with this line of cast, Kalank was the most awaited film and it falls flat- An Instant Disaster.

Varun Dhawan, Madhuri Dixit, Aditya Roy Kapur have an amazing screen presence and they do good justice to their roles, their performance doesn’t lack. Alia Bhatt is too underwhelmed in this saga and is not challenged in any new opportunity to bring her performance on the platter. Aditya Roy Kapur is great and so is Varun Dhawan. Sanjay Dutt is wasted. It is still good to see Madhuri Dixit Dance.

Binod Pradhan makes Kalank also look beautiful with his camera work. That’s the magic of cinema. But the dish well-presented has to taste it well too.
Kalank is kukarm of Abhishek Varman powered by Dharma Productions.

PK Verdict: Tin**