Review of the movie Kalank: Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan excellent in the history of starry love

How do you look illicit relationships? Do you consider an extramarital affair as a stain – kalank, if you will – or just pure love? Kalank looks at these issues and does it in the least profound way possible. Kalank is painful. Not in a good type, kinematic, cathartic. It's very physically painful to cross the film by almost three hours and reach the end without wanting to get out of the theater. The only redemption in this story of stunning and boring love is the performance of the main actors. Director Abhishek Varman failed to make the most of it. Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt are at the heart of Kalank. They play their roles seriously. But more on that later.

It is a few years before independence in Husnabad with Muslim majority. Balraj Chaudhry (Sanjay Dutt) lives in her mansion with her son Dev (Aditya Roy Kapur) and daughter-in-law Sathya (Sonakshi Sinha). Sathya lives on borrowed time. She has one year before cancer removes it. Before leaving, she wants to negotiate an agreement between Dev and Roop (Alia Bhatt) so that her husband is not alone after his death. But Roop wants this relationship to have a name. Dev and Roop get married. Sathya is waiting for the tree of his life to lose his last leaf (Lootera, do you mind?).

Roop is a prisoner of this relationship. She's looking for something to keep her occupied. She crosses a line and lands at the gate of Bahaar Begum (Madhuri Dixit) in the place that does not have to call Hiramandi to take music lessons. His path crosses that of the torn blacksmith Zafar (Varun Dhawan). Roop falls in love. But this "ishq" is a "kalank".

Alia Bhatt lends her freshness to Roop. His battles are as real as ours. Bhatt makes the character believable. Varun Dhawan, whose chiseled physique means that there is no shirt in most scenes, matches his steps. Varun plays Zafar to perfection. It is good to see Aditya Roy Kapur in a role that does not need him to make the bottle his companion. Kapur, editor-in-chief of the Daily Times, Husnabad's most popular newspaper, is doing his job well. Sonakshi Sinha returns from Lootera and makes Sathya an extension of Pakhi, her character from the 2013 film. She takes full advantage of her short film.

Sanjay Dutt and Madhuri Dixit share a scene from Kalank's scene, probably the one that justifies going through this snoring party. Oh, and there is Kunal Kemmu too, in an extended cameo that extends much longer than the cameos. But the actors and their work can only do in a film as badly written as Kalank.

Director Abhishek Varman, in his second film, can not do anything with even this kind of casting. You feel the impact of bad writing in a scene where Alia Bhatt breaks down and you try to quell a yawn. Or while Varun and Aditya shout. The performance of Kalank is so imperfect that you want to curse yourself for not having expectations. Honestly, Varman did a much better job with 2 states. Maybe the universe of Karan Johar's Cirque du Soleil big sets and props has too much for the director. The effort to respect the budget of the film (a crore of 80 Rs!) Is visible in every part of Kalank.

There are beautiful filmed songs (most by the composer Pritam) that do absolutely nothing to the film's story. The sheer weight of the external aids on which Kalank rests puts it down. Kalank contains so much that nothing attracts the attention it deserves. You can tell the big unveiling of a light-year. So when that happens, it's too little, too late. Anyway, a film devoid of action to retain the attention of the audience, there must be a strong story. Kalank has a very fine storyline that takes 20 minutes in the movie.

The Bollywood we grew up with sold us these "unnamed" relationships in beautiful ensembles from Silsila. Nothing has changed in these four decades. We still can not deal with transgression in the norms and relationships of society if we do not do it at a safe distance. In 2019, our lives are far more complex than the simple solutions that Bollywood offers us.

Kalank uses the idea that Alia is a "giraftaar" in her marriage. This idea is also valid for anyone watching Kalank. You feel prisoner. Exercise your choice. Look at Kalank ONLY if you do not have one.

2 out of 5 stars for Kalank

(The writer tweets as @ ananya116) . ]