Krrish

I have a 6 year old son and a wife who's between 30-35 (am not allowed to reveal exact age). They both loved Krrish. I kept waiting for the movie that could have been ! But then i am a very fussy watcher.

The plot should be quite simple but isn't

• Krishna is brought up by grandmom (an over emotive Rekha) who realises he has the same superpowers which ultimately caused the death of her son, Rohit
• Rekha's response is to hide him in a secluded hilly place where he grows up, superpowers intact, but with no materialism et all . She looks after his education etc.
• Enter pretty woman, Priya (Priyanka Chopra - full marks for originality for this screen name) who makes Krrish fall predictably head over heels over her - there is a nice sub-plot here regarding ghosts which i wont give away
• Priya leaves, Krrish follows her to Singapore (tearful separation from g'mom where she finally tells him the truth abt his superpowers / parents etc and she extracts promises from him to not reveal his powers etc). More sub-plots involving the tv-station Priya works in
• Finally the metamorphosis of Krishna into Krrish with revenge for dad, obligatory villain holding heroine ransom scene (i wish i had the patent on this one), and a couple of predictable twists.

Whats great about Krrish are the action sequences - they are quite slick and definitely a notch above what is seen in bollywood movies so far. With direct lift's (or inspirations) from Matrix, Minority Report and Superman - they've done a great job.

I also really liked Hrithik - am not sure about the spelling of his name (is it one R or 2 ?) - he comes across very nicely as a superhero - mischeivous when he needs to be and serious when on the vengeance path. Having a body like his also helps carry it off. And his smile - very natural, a change from the rather wooden faces Hollywood seems to choose for its super heroes (Val Kilmer, Michael Keaton for Batman and Mr Routh for Superman Returns are cases in point).

I loved Priyanka in Bluffmaster - but here she was ok - still looks great (wearing dresses that show off her excellent bod without going too far - there was one scene with her in a wet white t-shirt tho, that went by too quickly for my liking - just kidding, i'm a married man !). But crucially for me she fails to inspire any emotion for her character - which comes across as weak, indecisive, selfish, confused. Too much in control of her friend, Honey (another ace in name generation from the casting team)

And now my fundamental issue - Krrish came across as a movie which couldn't make up it's mind as to what it wanted to be - a slick action movie, a kids adventure / super hero movie or a love story. True to Bollywood it tries to be all 3 and therefore loses its chance to become a really great movie.

My son loved the action sequences but the movie lost him for large chunks - they made the plot too complicated for him to really follow it. He would have wanted more of them - and a simple plot with a defined baddy who spoke in more simple language. Also, they took too long to introduce Krrish - i think he actually comes in only after 2 hrs or so are up ! Can you imagine a movie where the title character only really lands up for the last 3rd of the movie ?

They dragged the main plot a little too long, distracted you with too many sub-plots, spent too much time on the love story, build-up (past / background) and so lost the edge of the seat thriller that they could have made - one which kept you engrossed till the end, one which would've made the interval seem unneccessary or somethg where you just caught your breath.

For the sequel - and i would be disappointed if there wasn't one - i would have a simple storyline, lots of action, only a few characters (including the bad ones) whom then i can spend time building / giving depth and have the title hero right from the start

Its worth watching once but i would save the repeats for the sequel. Going though by the originality of the names, dont expect anythg more dramatic than Krrish2...