I sauntered into "Kurbaan", the latest offering from the house of "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", with terribly low expectations. I expected the story to be full of ridiculous plot holes (it was), the production values to be slick and solid (they were) and for Kareena Kapoor to outshine her co-stars by a mile (she did).
Now, for those who aren't familiar, "Kurbaan" is based on a story by Karan Johar who likes to construct his plots with a lot of melodrama and a few twists . . . all at the surface. That would be fine for a superficial exercise in Hindu Family Values a la "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" or "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham" but "Kurbaan" is not about Hindu Family Values. It's about a secret cell of terrorists in New York whose star commando is a university professor named Ehsaan Khan (Saif Ali Khan). He lures an unassuming Hindu colleague of his named Avantika (Kareena Kapoor) back to New York where she comes to discover that her Prince Charming is really a bloodthirsty, bin Laden loving, pro Taliban terrorist whose greatest wish is to see America crumble under the weight of its own illegal nation-invading and genocidal hypocrisy.
Vivek Oberoi inserts himself into the giant conspiracy to take down America when his girlfriend (Dia Mirza) is killed in a suicide bombing, thus setting himself up as would-be savior to the now captive Avantika. Long story short, most of what happens would not unfold if Avantika would just pick up her phone and dial 911. Seriously.
"Kurbaan" marks the latest in a long line of Bollywood films dealing with terrorism. After this year's earlier "New York" and films like "Fanaa", "Maachis" and "Terrorist", "Kurbaan" simply reinforces the idea that the best of these films are those which provide a truly interested glimpse into why terrorists become terrorists. "Kurbaan" offers a background story for Ehsaan's motives, but it rings as hollow; instead the film serves are political polemic for all the aggrieved masses of Afghanistan and Iraq whom the mainstream press collectively refers to as "collateral damage" when American bombs happen to destroy them.
To be fair, "Kurbaan" is about as good as "New York" and far superior to the overly commercialized "Fanaa". Its primary failure (apart from the glaring holes in its plot) is that it is written from an outsider's perspective: the hopelessly cheesy dialogues at the beginning (Ehsaan tells Avantika "I don't believe in long distance relationships, they just never work out" followed by the equally banal "Why is it women who are always asked to sacrifice") don't do much to give us a glimpse into why Ehsaan does what he does. Ditto Avantika: why doesn't she call the police the second she witnesses her neighbor getting beat up by her husband? Is she waiting for her to be murdered? Oh, wait . . .
We are also asked to believe that Ehsaan and Avantika are truly in love with one another, a truly credulous feat considering what Avantika is forced to endure. "Kurbaan" is no love story: it is about deceit and murder, plain and simple, and unlike Mani Ratnam's masterpiece "Dil Se" which was a love story about the destructive nature of love told against the backdrop of terrorism. (Side note: both Saif Ali Khan and Aamir Khan are talented actors who have taken valiant stabs at playing terrorists, but the gold standard remains Manisha Koirala's hauntingly tragic portrayal of the suicide bomber in "Dil Se". Nothing else compares to that truly transcendent performance).
The performances are solid, if not extraordinary, with Saif doing his best with a surprisingly superficial characterization. Vivek Oberoi is sufficient as the infiltrate who seeks to avenge his lover's death. Om Puri and Kirron Kher are expectedly good in their parts, though Kher at times seems to be doing an imitation of Amitabh Bachchan from "Khudah Gawah" (this Kabul accent is seriously affected -- you half expect her to declare "Benazir!"). But the show belongs to Kareena Kapoor, proving yet again that despite her presence in silly films and the movie media's obsession with her size zero figure, she is the best actress around today who can make even mediocre material palpable. This is isn't her best work (or anywhere near it) but there are glimpses of those trademark Kapoor thespian skills on display.
Oddly enough, with "Kurbaan" not being Bollywood enough sans any lip synching or item numbers, the target audience of "Kurbaan" ought to be mainstream America: it might actually glean something useful from a film which presents (an admittedly weak) perspective different from what Hollywood and the mainstream American media are capable of producing. Any takers?
Now, for those who aren't familiar, "Kurbaan" is based on a story by Karan Johar who likes to construct his plots with a lot of melodrama and a few twists . . . all at the surface. That would be fine for a superficial exercise in Hindu Family Values a la "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" or "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham" but "Kurbaan" is not about Hindu Family Values. It's about a secret cell of terrorists in New York whose star commando is a university professor named Ehsaan Khan (Saif Ali Khan). He lures an unassuming Hindu colleague of his named Avantika (Kareena Kapoor) back to New York where she comes to discover that her Prince Charming is really a bloodthirsty, bin Laden loving, pro Taliban terrorist whose greatest wish is to see America crumble under the weight of its own illegal nation-invading and genocidal hypocrisy.
Vivek Oberoi inserts himself into the giant conspiracy to take down America when his girlfriend (Dia Mirza) is killed in a suicide bombing, thus setting himself up as would-be savior to the now captive Avantika. Long story short, most of what happens would not unfold if Avantika would just pick up her phone and dial 911. Seriously.
"Kurbaan" marks the latest in a long line of Bollywood films dealing with terrorism. After this year's earlier "New York" and films like "Fanaa", "Maachis" and "Terrorist", "Kurbaan" simply reinforces the idea that the best of these films are those which provide a truly interested glimpse into why terrorists become terrorists. "Kurbaan" offers a background story for Ehsaan's motives, but it rings as hollow; instead the film serves are political polemic for all the aggrieved masses of Afghanistan and Iraq whom the mainstream press collectively refers to as "collateral damage" when American bombs happen to destroy them.
To be fair, "Kurbaan" is about as good as "New York" and far superior to the overly commercialized "Fanaa". Its primary failure (apart from the glaring holes in its plot) is that it is written from an outsider's perspective: the hopelessly cheesy dialogues at the beginning (Ehsaan tells Avantika "I don't believe in long distance relationships, they just never work out" followed by the equally banal "Why is it women who are always asked to sacrifice") don't do much to give us a glimpse into why Ehsaan does what he does. Ditto Avantika: why doesn't she call the police the second she witnesses her neighbor getting beat up by her husband? Is she waiting for her to be murdered? Oh, wait . . .
We are also asked to believe that Ehsaan and Avantika are truly in love with one another, a truly credulous feat considering what Avantika is forced to endure. "Kurbaan" is no love story: it is about deceit and murder, plain and simple, and unlike Mani Ratnam's masterpiece "Dil Se" which was a love story about the destructive nature of love told against the backdrop of terrorism. (Side note: both Saif Ali Khan and Aamir Khan are talented actors who have taken valiant stabs at playing terrorists, but the gold standard remains Manisha Koirala's hauntingly tragic portrayal of the suicide bomber in "Dil Se". Nothing else compares to that truly transcendent performance).
The performances are solid, if not extraordinary, with Saif doing his best with a surprisingly superficial characterization. Vivek Oberoi is sufficient as the infiltrate who seeks to avenge his lover's death. Om Puri and Kirron Kher are expectedly good in their parts, though Kher at times seems to be doing an imitation of Amitabh Bachchan from "Khudah Gawah" (this Kabul accent is seriously affected -- you half expect her to declare "Benazir!"). But the show belongs to Kareena Kapoor, proving yet again that despite her presence in silly films and the movie media's obsession with her size zero figure, she is the best actress around today who can make even mediocre material palpable. This is isn't her best work (or anywhere near it) but there are glimpses of those trademark Kapoor thespian skills on display.
Oddly enough, with "Kurbaan" not being Bollywood enough sans any lip synching or item numbers, the target audience of "Kurbaan" ought to be mainstream America: it might actually glean something useful from a film which presents (an admittedly weak) perspective different from what Hollywood and the mainstream American media are capable of producing. Any takers?