Kismat Konnection
wogma rating: Watch if you have nothing better to do (?)
Lage Raho Munnabhai (LRM) meets Jab We Met but without the charm or humor of either. Vidya Balan blends Janvi of LRM with Suman of Munnabhai MBBS. Shahid Kapoor plays chocolate hero, again! Aziz Mirza is still in I'm directing Shah Rukh Khan mode.
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All your films carry the underlying message of hope and the ultimate triumph of the underdog.
It's very likely that this description of Aziz Mirza's film is going to be true for Kismat Konnection. Does that mean I can let my hopes rise by
...you will seek to explore new cinematic boundaries.
I am really intrigued to see how new cinematic boundaries are going to be explored in the 'romantic' genre.
The person making these forecasts is Juhi Chawla. Now, Juhi in a non-mom/non care-giver role is certainly something to look forward to - that is assuming they don’t make her go all slapsticky.
All this fortune telling business also seems to have culminated into changing the spelling of "connection" to "konnection" and now I'm going to have to kontrol myself from going over-board with all the k-joces...kome on guys, 'c' has feelings too. oops, should stop now, maybe they did that just to bring to us the beauty of alliteration.
I'm sure a lot is being said about how Vidya Balan looks older than the ever-choo-chweet Shahid Kapoor. I think it’s a win-win situation. If she does look alright opposite Shahid Kapoor, the screen will look great. If not, older looking women who like being seen with younger looking men (or vice versa) can rejoice because a precedent is set. No?
- meeta, a part of the audience
Staring at the computer. Checking the thesaurus. Wrecking my brain. Checking thesaurus again. There is really no other word for "predictable" that wholesomely describes Kismat Konnection's story, dialogues, character transformations, etc, etc, etc. The title clearly says that it's all konnected by kismat. So, no points for asking why it is set in Canada (or should that be Kanada?)
Which also means that you are demented if you complain about all the happy coincidences when boy meets girl, loses her, wins her back or maybe not. But looks like, asking for 'unique' coincidences is asking for too much. Movies like these have been our staple diet when we were growing up, dear movie makers! It's high time you begin respecting that and show us something more. And just zip up on the tacky symbolic lights-out-luck-down, lights-on-fate-bright bit! It truly makes my eyes hurt from rolling.
And the dialogues have the same effect, when my brain involuntarily says out the words two seconds before the characters do. Before, I can control it from doing so. Hell, let alone the dialogues, the lyrics of the songs are just prose set to tunes, and have no poetry. And, the music didn't work for me in the promos and didn't work for me while watching the movie.
Well, it's not like this one doesn't have its moments. Juhi Chawla and the lines given to her had me in splits for the 7 minutes she was on screen. Then there's this one scene where Vidya Balan's character, Priya describes her idea of an ideal match, which culminates into a lovely romantic moment. But those are about the 9 minutes that I enjoyed in the movie.
The other romantic moments are either as if no one in the movie's team has been romantic after the 80s (stuffed toys as gifts, p-l-e-a-s-e!). Or real romance is so cheesy that it's better to portray this dream world where a squeaky toy can make a heart-broken girl smile than think of genuine romantic situations.
Vidya Balan is one actor who can convey sensuousness through her facial expressions and doesn't really need a 'hot' body to convey that. Which means you need no leather pants in your wardrobe, lady! She looks great though, or at least much better than I thought she would after Heyy Babyy. Thanks to the camera decisions of mostly focusing on her upper body and more so the charming face. And that's the end of intelligent or smart camerawork decisions. Because, the lighting had this uncanny way of making the streets of Canada look like they were studio sets. Or were they actually sets?
And it's obvious that director Aziz Mirza has gotten so used to directing Shah Rukh Khan that almost through half the movie, I had to remind myself that it's Shahid Kapoor I'm watching. And it completely doesn't work when he tried to pull an Amitabh Bachchan from Namakhalal by spouting fast monologues on a sport.
But then, there's this thing that Shahid's eyes do that make you wish he gets the girl even if it's the most expected thing to happen story-wise. Yet the puppy eyes fail to convince me that he's this struggling architect who magically owns a largish house in Canada, a convertible, a large screen TV and yet is broke.
So, you're not allowed to forget that the operative word in the title is "Kismat" - luck, fortune, destiny, whatever you would like to call it as the opening, boring voiceover monologue by Shah Rukh Khan reminds you. klearly kommon kismat konnection is more like it.
- meeta, a part of the audience
Thumbs up, by Aaina Sharma, Bollywood Mantra : ...Ahmed Khan’s choreography is breath-taking... full review
Thumbs up, by Subhash K Jha, Now Running.com : ...Shot by the invincible Binod Pradhan, the city looks pretty... full review
Thumbs up, by Hanumant Bhansali, Radio Sargam : ...The boy has come off age and has a wonderful screen presence.... full review
So-So, by Nikhil Kumar, Apun Ka Choice : ...It plods when Juhi Chawla enters the scene and hams with no holds barred... full review
So-So, by Fatema H Kagalwala, Business of Cinema : ...Not that the movie does not manage to create a world and charm of its own... full review
So-So, by Taran Adarsh, IndiaFM : ...The characters we watch on screen are relatable... full review
So-So, by Janhvi Patel, indya.com : ...t does get a little predictable but it does not drag too much, thankfully.... full review
So-So, Movie Talkies : ...Shahid has wonderful energy, dances like a dream... full review
So-So, by Jahan Bakshi, Now Running.com : ...Shahid Kapur does a decent job but never really manages to come totally into his own... full review
So-So, by Sonia Chopra, Sify Movies : ...The romance between Shahid and Vidya is wonderful to watch... full review
So-So, by Arshiya Kapadiya, Times Now : ...Vidya gets her look right for a change... full review
Thumbs down, by Baradwaj Rangan, Blogical Conclusion, The New Sunday Express : ...makes you feel you’re under a ten-ton block of concrete, trapped in a joyless world where boring things keep happening to boring people... full review
Thumbs down, by Baradwaj Rangan, Blogical Conclusion, The New Sunday Express : ...Setting up the element of chance that runs through the film, we’re told at the beginning, “Life is like a game of cards.” Yeah, and sometimes, the audiences end up jokers.... full review
Thumbs down, by Yasser Usmaan, DearCinema : ...The story line is wafer-thin.... full review
Thumbs down, by Deep, Deep's Home : ...I am still Yawning... full review
Thumbs down, Filmiholic : ...The music, well, really just the first and last songs, are ok, but the picturizations are awful.... full review
Thumbs down, by Martin D'souza, Glamsham.com : ...Vidya Balan looks gorgeous, but there are certain angles in which she looks way older than she actually is.... full review
Thumbs down, by Khalid Mohamed, Hindustan Times : ...this could have been riproaringly funny but that wasn’t written in your kismat... full review
Thumbs down, by Rajeev Masand, IBN Live : ...it's impossible to relate to Mirza's cardboard characters who come with no back-story, no explanations whatsoever... full review
Thumbs down, by Gaurav Malani, indiatimes : ...Just when you start liking the breezy premise, the director decides to add (rotten) meat to the story by adding a hackneyed love triangle to stretch the screenplay by a few more clichéd scenes... full review
Thumbs down, musicNmovies.info : ...Only Kismat can save this movie in the Box Office.... full review
Thumbs down, by Mayank Shekhar, NDTV : ...This is a premise from Aziz Mirza's Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman or even Lage Raho Munnabhai. You learn that isn't the film either.... full review
Thumbs down, by Joxily John, Planet Bollywood : ...we have a typical SRK script here.... full review
Thumbs down, by Elvis D'Silva, Rediff : ... the music is nothing to write home about... full review
Thumbs down, SearchIndia.com : ...virtually zero chemistry between Vidya Balan and Shahid Kapoor.... full review
Thumbs down, by Nikhat Kazmi, Times of India : ...But what's even more depressing is the complete paucity of a sensible plot, the plodding narration and the thanda connection between Shahid and Vidya.... full review
Twitter reviews for this movie are not available.
This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.
Plot Summary
Boy (Shahid Kapoor) meets Girl (Vidya Balan). Girl is lucky for boy's career. Boy wants to keep girl. So he lies. Girl finds out...yada, yada, yada.
What Worked
Nothing really, other than the few things pointed out in the main review
What did not
- Okay, I'm convinced, more than half of Canada is inhabited by Indians.
- Where on earth do these people find such terrible looking office secretaries for the characters who have even worse dialogue delivery?
- The architects are so broke that they do the carpentry themselves!
- The recording quality or voice used for Vidya Balan in songs.
- Hiten Patel, he really got irritating when all he had to yell was, "we're getting late for the meeting, and this is such an important meeting" every 20 minutes or so.
- I register my protest against women putting on full make-up before they leave for mourning their lost love.
- The unwieldy lecture on corporate responsibility!!
- Over the shoulder shots between Hiten Patel and Vidya Balan. Looked way too amateurish.
- Are Indians living in Canada really concerned with the ups and downs of the SENSEX?
- Why is a corporate meeting happening in the city council hall?
Nitty-Gritty
- Who's this about 25 year old Mr. Sharma who's head of IBM?
- Vidya Balan in the red dress being shot with a bottom-up angle in the title song and her side profile shots exposed her i-need-work triceps.
Parental Guidance:
- Violence: None!
- Sexual content: None!
- Concept: It's a plain, regular boy meets girl story.
- General Look and Feel: The visuals are all bright and peppy. But, I wonder what you will do when you are get tired of predicting each and every word.
![[Facebook page of Kismat Konnection]](/static/images/icons/facebook_small.png){kind=icon}
![[Wikipedia page of Kismat Konnection]](/static/images/icons/wiki_small.png){kind=icon}
![[IMDB Page of Kismat Konnection]](/static/images/icons/imdb_small.png){kind=icon}
![[Vidya Balan twitter account]](/static/images/icons/twitter_small.png){kind=icon}
Comments (13)
Kismat Konnection Review...
Lage Raho Munnabhai (LRM) meets Jab We Met but without the charm or humor of either. Vidya Balan blends Janvi of LRM with Suman of Munnabhai MBBS. Shahid Kapoor plays chocolate hero, again! Aziz Mirza is still in I'm directing Shah Rukh Khan mode....
[...] Meetu writes off Kismat Konnection. Her “quick review” says: Lage Raho Munnabhai (LRM) meets Jab We Met but without the charm or humor of either. Vidya Balan blends Janvi of LRM with Suman of Munnabhai MBBS. Shahid Kapoor plays chocolate hero, again! Aziz Mirza is still in I’m directing Shah Rukh Khan mode. Linked by BA. Join Blogbharti facebook group. [...]
dont agrry with you.this is a watched for its social concern.
meetu u r absolutely stupid...u dont know hw to review movies i've watched the movie and itz perfectly rocking...u r not a gud reviewer i wonder who has given u rightz of diz site...u dud..!!!meetu plz stop reviewing..!!!itz a gud advice fr u...hw can u give the lead actors 2 marks for acting r u mad..??? and u hav given 1 mark to mr aziz mirza hw u dare do dat.??
u know hw aged n talented he iz..??
plz stop reviewing...!!!i rate this movie as 3/5
ajay brahmatamj's review of kismat konnection on chavanni chap
http://chavannichap.blogspot.com/2008/07/blog-post_19.html
Hey Adnan
To each his own dude.. Stop criticizing the reviewer..
You liked it, she didnt.. ismein dare karne ki kya baat hai :|
Thanks, Ashok! :) Support from fellow bloggers means a lot!
Time pass movie as well as entertaining.Sahid improving day by day though his best performance hasn't come yet but his acting impress me.Wish him all the best in future.
I agree with Arijit.
Movie is ok.But i have found less energy in vidya.
I have seen this movie,though the concept was good,but it hadn't directed well.
i saw dis movie it was gud i lyked shahid's act but nt much as in jab we met n it was tooo short film! it must hv been lil extended!!!
i personally think tht it was more or less gud!
Predictable..I so agree
Kismet connection was a really horrible movie(why it did any business whatsoever is beyond me). And I agree that the Balan gurl looks really uncomfortable in western attire. Her looks and body language is suited best for Indian clothes. I wish she woud realize that. The movie had nothing to salvage it..a total disaster
Yeah - this was one that both my wife Tammy and Bruce's wife Kathy wanted to watch, so we did…. to all our disappointment. Vidya Balan, who we like, is really good in this, bringing her hardheaded idealism and romantic vulnerability to a young woman trying to save a senior center/clinic from a mall developer - only she's the "good luck charm" of Shahid Kapoor's architect who's trying to get the contract to build that mall! It's old wine poured into old bottles - if you took away the computers, mobile phones and a few feints at political activism, this movie could have been done at any time in the last half-century, as part of any country's movie industry. In fact, I'm pretty sure this script, sans dance numbers, was turned down by Jill Clayburgh and Alan Alda back in 1970s Hollywood!
While I can enjoy a derivative masala if it's well-written, directed and acted with great musical numbers, this film just feels off, somehow. It's not that Shahid Kapoor can't be an engaging lead (both JAB WE MET and BADMAASH COMPANY proved he's got talent and presence), but this really isn't the right part for him. When he tries for Shahrukh Khan's patented "sleazy-but-lovable rogue reformed by a good woman", he comes off more like slimy, pushy and guilt-ridden - and certainly not deserving of the woman he supposedly loves' affections! He's better as a basically good person compromised by circumstance (which he tries to play, but thanks to the script his character is all over the map!) - though I would love to see him tackle a serious role as a completely unsympathetic cad who coasts on his charm sometime.
Om Puri is having fun playing the Om Puri role, though honestly - would somebody get that man a Cavalry company to lead, so he could courageously defends India against all comers? And yeah, Juhi Chawla as the psychic "Haseena Bano Jaan" steals the movie - she needs her own comedy series, like the Munna Bhai ones.
Oh, the guy playing the competing architect? He was so slimy I wanted to go into the movie and punch him in the face! Don't know who the actor was, or if he's ever worked again….
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