Saturday, July 3, 2010

KITES: Ew!!


The first thought that crossed my mind halfway through this movie was: Thank God I did not watch it in the big screen! In the comfort of my sofa at home and with other channels to flip to on the TV, Kites was bearable at best.

First off, while it is an accepted fact that it takes hard work to make a good movie, Kites demonstrates that it takes a spectacular effort to make a bad one as well. Starting with the name. Kites?? What is the relation to the story? I didn't get it. The most credible reason is of course, that it starts with "K". Well, so does "Katastrophe". And that might have been more apt.


Then the plot, or the lack of it. The first 30 minutes was interesting. The rest is eminently forgettable. The lead pair is lovey-dovey one minute, and running for their lives the next. People appear and disappear on screen like apparitions. The editing is tacky, with connections between some scenes missing, leaving you clueless for a minute or so. Only one song is worth mentioning: Zindagi, do pal ki.


Even the action scenes are sad. Fake, stage-set and ekdum thanda. Finally, since I am neither in love with Hrithik nor Barbara Mori, I was not moved by all those tantalizing close ups of their faces, striking as they are. Some more screen time on the story at large would have definitely helped.

If this movie was screened to international audiences and dubbed as a "crossover" movie because it was shot in US/Mexico and had a Spanish-speaking lead actor, I would be ashamed to acknowledge the Indian part of it.