 "Film Review: Katti Batti is beset by bad direction and gigantic cliches")
Just when we thought that Bollywood is getting its groove back in 2015 with movies like Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Piku and Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Nikhil Advani’s Katti Batti reminds us we have a long way to go. One of the most awaited films of the year, the Kangana Ranaut and Imran Khan-starrer disappoints in almost every aspect.
Despite Ranaut being on a career high with films like Queen and Tanu Weds Manu Returns raising the bar in Bollywood for strong female roles, Advani prefers to use her as a pretty face, who has almost half the screen time as her male counterpart. Had the male lead in this case been an actor with equal pull at the box office, one might have understood; but instead, Advani puts the weight of the film on Khan’s shoulders, who has not seen a solo hit since his debut Jaane Tu Yaa Jaane Na.
The end result is that the film refuses to take off and half way before the interval, the audience starts to get that bad feeling one gets while watching an anticipated film going nowhere. It is actually unfair to Khan since he does do a good job in the film; only if he had been better directed, he would not have come across as a clingy lover-boy bordering on lunacy for most of the film.
Perhaps a bigger problem than the faulty casting and share of screen-time between the leads of the film, is the fact that the film is the ultimate cliché. It does not do well to forget we are in 2015 and when you take ‘inspiration’ from Hollywood films, the audience is more likely to figure it out even before the scene is over. The Indian audience has seen enough films like 500 Days of Summer and a Walk to Remember, which the movie looks heavily inspired from. What more, Advani resorted to the biggest cliché in story-telling, and that too in the climax of the movie. At this point, one is forced to wonder if Bollywood is so badly afflicted with creative bankruptcy that things have come to such a pass at the movies.
For a rom com with a heart wrenching twist and a lesson in letting go, the film fails on three counts – the romance, the comedy and the twist (the mother of all clichés). Midway through the movie, one realises that the director has let go of his sensibility as well. A proof of this is when he unabashedly tries to pass of the BKC skyline as part of Delhi.
While many directors have mastered the art of narration via flashbacks, Advani is yet to do so. Some of the flashbacks are done well, mostly in the first half, but the rest seem jarring and forced. Scenes from the present seem to be in the movie, just to facilitate the flashbacks in this case, making for mundane viewing. The first half is definitely more entertaining, but the humour comes across as over the top and juvenile in most cases, except maybe the part where the lead pair’s pet turtle is named Milkha.
The script provides ample scope for a strong supporting cast, and most people, including the music band in the second half, do a good job. You can’t really fault the Airtel 4G model Sasha Chhetri and her band-mates as they are swept into the climax, which is part slapstick and part morbid clichés. Khan and Ranaut’s friends also do a decent job, but like the lead pair, are limited by the flaws in the script and direction.
A positive in the first half is the way two of the songs – Sarfira and Lip to Lip - have been pictured. With five songs, the film is thankfully not plagued by redundant songs and the ones that are there, help in the story-telling somehow. Khan’s introduction to the aforementioned music band (named F.O.S.L.A., SHORT FOR Frustrated One Sided Lovers Association) is one such example.
Made at Rs 25-30 crore, the film will not have an uphill task in terms of recovering money since the hype leading to the release has been tremendous. Word of mouth however will affect the film’s chances beyond the opening weekend. The damage to Ranaut and Advani’s street cred in Bollywood after this though, is something one needs to wait and watch out for.
