Kahan Shuru Kahan Khatam review: Decent performances marred by predictable plot
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I got a strange sense of deja vu as I settled in to watch Kahan Shuru Kahan Khatam. Progressive parents, a funny/nosy relative, a cool dadi who is social media-savvy, confusion ensues, and a happy ending with a random message thrown if. If I took a shot every time I was able to guess where I have seen all this before this film, I'd be very drunk.
It doesn’t come as a surprise that one of the co producers and writer of KSKK is Laxman Utekar, whose body of work has been dominated by heartland-set films-- Luka Chuppi, Mimi, Zara Hatke Zara Bachke. While there’s nothing wrong with such a setting, where will this obsession end?
The same old plot
This one revolves around Meera (Dhvani Bhanushali in her acting debut) who is running away from her own wedding. The reason? She wasn’t asked by her father if she wants to get married. Yes, it’s that a wafer-thin conflict. She asserts that she would have anyway given her yes- but she needed to have been asked. Crashing her wedding is Krish (Ashim Gulati), chased by Meera's relatives. Confusion ensues, and he ends up running away along with Meera.
The first half is a snoozefest with jokes falling flat. The writers here thought naming two characters Gautam and Gambhir would be so smart. Thankfully, the intermission comes up within 40 mins, and you begin thinking ‘yeh kab Khatam hoga?’ Was the title a challenge thrown to the viewers?
Surprisingly, the second half salvages the film to some extent. I strongly feel that’s because the supporting cast gets to finally do some heavy lifting. Rakesh Bedi as Ashim’s dad, scared of his wife, played by Supriya Pilgaonkar, manages to bring in some laughs. Utekar’s influence is so strong, that even certain plot points are lifted directly from his own films. Remember the confusion which ensues as Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon’s characters in Luka Chuppi, living in together, are mistakenly assumed to be married? The same confusion happens here too.
Worse yet, KSKK also takes us back to the infamous, stereotypical presentation of people belonging to the LGBTQI community. So much for a film which parades around with a message to treat women at par with men.
Performance report card
As for the performances, Dhvani tries her best to lift a one-dimensional character. She has a nice presence, and with some more work on her emotional scenes, she can surely go on to emerge as a decent performer. Ashim Gulati is average. Such a film required charming characters who sweep you off your feet, but they miss the mark.
Rakesh Bedi and Supriya Pilgaonkar naturally stand out, given the decades of experience they have.
The music of the film is below average, with a forgettable appearance by Dhanashree Verma in a song. The story, the performances, everything aside- what I won’t forgive the makers for is recreating classics like Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh and Ek Ladki Bheegi Bhaagi Si, and wasting them.
