FILM REVIEW: 'KITES'

The Next Great Hindi Movie For International Audiences?

By: Parimal M. Rohit

May 19, 2010

Only months after Indian films such as 3 Idiots and My Name is Khan set box office records in the United States as the most profitable Bollywood productions of all-time, Reliance BIG Pictures hopes to be the next great Hindi movie to appeal to international audiences with this week’s release of Kites, starring Indian megastar Hrithik Roshan and Mexican leading actress Barbara Mori.

Where the 3 Idiots and My Name is Khan hung their respective hats on rather meaty issues of substantive morals, Kites presents audiences with a simple but universal message of love. Interestingly enough, the way this love affair plays out parallels the ultimate vibe of the film’s overarching message, which is simplified complication.

The story’s premise appears simple enough – man falls in love with woman, and woman reciprocates. When both realize their love for each other, they run off and get married before playfully pondering how to spend the rest of time together.

Of course, if it were that simple, we would not have a movie on our hands, now would we?

Enter complications: man is a Bollywood dance instructor in Sin City who doubles as a con-man hustling green cards for female immigrants, while woman is one of those hustled “victims” who schemes to marry a rich playboy to solve her financial woes back home in Mexico.

What the two did not plan was crossing paths and falling in love in the midst of their independently made well-laid plans to marry another – all in the name of wealth.

That man is J/Jai (Hrithik Roshan). That woman is Natasha/Linda (Barbara Mori). Both are innocent souls leading not-so-innocent lives.

J makes some extra cash on the side charging unassuming women hundreds or thousands of dollars to feign marriage, all in the name of the bride earning her green card (ergo permanent residence in the United States) as a result. After scheming such marriages of convenience with ten women, J’s life changes when he meets his 11th “transaction” – the Spanish-speaking Mexican immigrant named Linda.

However, Linda has plans of her own – maliciously plotting to pursue a real marriage with Tony (Nick Brown), the playboy son of a wealthy casino owner and mob boss.

Coincidentally, Tony has a sister named Gina (Kangana Ranaut) who herself falls head-over-heels in love with J. When the conman and dance instructor realizes who Gina is – the daughter of a wealthy man – he decides to feign interest in Gina and attend her brother (Tony)'s engagement party.

When J arrives and discovers Tony’s fiancée is Linda (herself masquerading around under her pseudonym “Natasha”), a wild series of dramatic events take place, starting with a lovely and sensual night out on the town with the two star-crossed lovers on the eve of Linda’s wedding to Tony.

It is not long before Tony discovers what is going on between J and Natasha/Linda, causing a bizarre love story involving a fair degree of violence, mayhem and thrill.

Through it all, the audience is expected to discover two things. First, J and Linda have such a strong bond to each other that neither money nor violence can come between them. Second, not all is as it seems with Tony, Gina, and their casino-owning dad Bob (Kabir Bedi).

All in all, a simple love story is aptly turned complicated – which, film logic would imply, bodes well for a movie, in its full version, running 130 minutes long.

Quite the solid concept on paper, Kites struggles to overwhelm audiences on the big screen.

For starters, as a whole, the story is relatively predictable. Audiences, for the most part, will be able to envision key elements of the story before they occur on screen.

Beyond that, among the most glaring weaknesses in India’s latest attempt at western crossover cinema is the film’s pacing. Sure, it is common to mix film genres such as action, romance and thriller – and Kites definitely has strong elements to satisfy fans of each of those movie categories. However, the film’s story goes in so many different directions in its attempt to suddenly switch gears between genres, it becomes rather difficult for audiences to appreciate what they are watching on screen.

To put it another way, just when the moviegoer gets comfortable with one portrayed emotion and feeling, the story suddenly jumps a few gears and presents audiences with a completely different emotion and feeling. One moment, audiences will feel as if they are supposed to giggle at an awkward exchange between two lovers who find themselves in an uncomfortable situation. The next moment, moviegoers are on the edge of their respective seats as those same two lovers are dodging bullets, law enforcement and the mob. Then the very next scene takes audiences deep into the psyche of the film’s protagonist with overtly dramatic dialogue – only to then be laughing at something quirky or cheesy moments later.

While the element of surprise definitely has its place in cinema, Kites seems to have taken a few liberties in just how often it switches gears on audiences. Unfortunately, such an approach usually backfires with the audience, leaving them either confused or (eventually) numb of what will come next.

Even more, there are several inconsistent or random moments throughout the film that, if looked at critically, will leave audiences scratching their collective heads. Most of those inconsistent or random moments involve Gina. For example, Gina’s last on-screen appearance in the film’s climactic standoff between J and Tony is both inexplicable and implausible, especially considering the act she performed before she left the story for good.

Not to mention that, while J’s conniving motive for pursuing a relationship with Gina was painstakingly clear, what remained fuzzy throughout the film was how Gina fell in love with J to begin with. Further, while the dark secrets of her family are revealed, it was never made clear whether Gina knew of or had a role in her father’s and brother’s mob-like shenanigans.

Beyond that, the only other aspect some audiences may take issue with is the story’s consistent habit of jumping back and forth between present-day accounts and past-tense narratives. Indeed, the film is constantly shifting between past and present, similar to Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. While such a storytelling approach is not a negative, perhaps a sizable chunk of the audience will struggle to come to grips with it.

On the bright side, Kites does have several elements working for it, such as a truly unexpected ending despite an otherwise predictable plot. Also, the film is presented in three languages – English, Hindi and Spanish. Somehow that worked out just fine and gives the film a unique layer allowing it to separate itself from other attempts to fuse Hollywood with international flavor.

The scenery is also top-notch, what with some amazing shots and angles present throughout the entire film. Indeed, audiences will see Las Vegas and New Mexico like they never have.

In addition, the action sequences seemed to have borrowed a page from Jerry Bruckheimer’s book. Not only are the chases thrilling and edge-of-your-seat fun but they are not overdone and fit the story well. Perhaps the most memorable action/stunt scene is during the climactic scene just before the Bollywood version’s intermission, where Roshan is jumping off rooftops and onto moving trains. Moreover, the special effects are definitely top-rate and will wow audiences in India.

As for the love story between Roshan and Mori’s characters, it is well-developed. What starts as a raw love affair at the get-go, the audience eventually believes in the chemistry that builds between J and Linda. By film’s end, the audience is rooting for the couple to triumph over the well-hated mobsters of Tony and Bob.

The acting performances were, for the most part, above average. Mori was very solid as the lead actress, holding her own and commanding a strong presence throughout the entire film. In playing Natasha/Linda, the audience should be able to pick up on all of her emotions and relate to the character’s story and struggle.

Meanwhile, Roshan was slightly disappointing in that this was not one of the masterful roles he delivered in Mission: Kashmir, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Dhoom 2 or Jodhaa Akbar. Yet, while he did not live up to his high standards of acting greatness, Roshan was still perfectly fit for this role. At the very least, the many times he struts around the film shirtless to show off his washboard abdomen is definitely a sight for sore female eyes.

As Gina, Ranaut was promising, though her screen-time was so limited that the character never really had a chance to become the influential game-changer she could have been. Still, Ranaut was definitely first-rate in her (albeit brief) performance as Gina.

Perhaps the two underwhelming performances were delivered by the film’s two villains – Brown and Bedi. Somehow Brown was just never convincing as the jaded lover who is also the ruthless heir to an empire controlled by an even more ruthless father. Throughout the film, Brown just seemed whiny and childish in his rendition of Tony.

With Bedi’s performance, one could say he was perhaps the victim of his own success. Like Roshan, Bedi has set a high standard for himself as to how well he can deliver a character. In Kites, Bedi showed potential in being that scary and ruthless villain. Yet, in the end, he just did not develop enough to invoke fear among audiences. If anything, there were moments when Bob appeared too soft, especially when Tony had to remind his father how to act like the top-notch mob boss that he was.

Finally, Yuri Suri was underdeveloped as Jamaal, the mob family’s trusted chauffeur and wing-man.

In all, the same adjective of “underdeveloped” can be applied to the entire film. Kites had various moments that showed the film’s potential to be among the most influential crossover Bollywood films of all time. Unfortunately, the filmmakers oftentimes came across as though they were just trying too hard to be too much.

Sure, the love story was promising, as was the overarching premise and the action sequences, and even the film’s ending. Yet Kites ends up being a film where the sum of the parts are not greater than the whole. While each element of the film was, for the most part, independently solid or promising, none of the elements were strong enough to carry Kites into elite status.

Even worse, the film features very few memorable scenes to justify watching it again and again, perhaps hurting future DVD sales.

If anything, Kites ends up being a solid date movie, allowing couples to walk out of the theater trying to figure out just what the true meaning of love really is – and that is not at all a bad thing.

All of the above withstanding, Kites is not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination, and is definitely worthy of being seen once. (Just seeing a scantily clad Mori or a shirtless Roshan alone will be worth the price of admission for many.) If anything, do not walk into the theater expecting the greatest love story ever, as Kites is far from that.

On May 20th, Kites is opening on 2,300 screens worldwide, including more than 200 in North America – both numbers setting an all-time record for the most screens to premiere an Indian film.

This week’s release of Kites, which is considered the Bollywood version and runs 130 minutes, will be followed by a re-released version edited by Hollywood director Brett Ratner of Rush Hour fame. Ratner cut a 90-minute version of the film for Western audiences.

Directed by Anurag Basu and produced by Rakesh Roshan and Sharan Kapoor, Kites is set to fly in theaters worldwide this weekend.