Rating:
2.5/5
Star
Cast:
Madhuri
Dixit,
Sonakshi
Sinha,
Alia
Bhatt,
Varun
Dhawan,
Aditya
Roy
Kapur
Director:
Abhishek
Varman
Kalank
Movie
Review:
Alia
Bhatt
|
Varun
Dhawan
|
Madhuri
|
Karan
Johar
|
Sanjay
|
FilmiBeat
With
a
tear
rolling
down
her
eye,
Roop
(Alia
Bhatt)
breaks
the
fourth
wall
and
asks
the
audience,
"Aapne
is
kahaani
mein
kya
dekha,
kalank
yaa
mohabbat?"
Wait,
is
she
confused
just
like
us?
To
get
a
better
picture,
let's
hit
the
flashback
button
and
step
into
the
world
of
Kalank.
Set
in
the
pre-partition
period
in
Husnabad
in
outskirts
of
Lahore,
Roop
(Alia
Bhatt),
a
young,
carefree
girl
gets
married
to
Dev
(Aditya
Roy
Kapur)
while
his
wife
Satya
(Sonakshi
Sinha)
emotionally
watches
the
nuptial
with
the
patriach
of
their
house,
Dev
Chaudhary
(Sanjay
Dutt).
At
the
same
time
in
the
same
town
in
a
place
called
Hira
Mandi,
a
koel-eyed
blacksmith
named
Zafar
(Varun
Dhawan)
dances
'First
Class'
with
exuberance
outside
Begum
Bahar
(Madhuri
Dixit)'s
chamber,
unware
of
how
his
fate
is
all
set
to
change
forever.
Like
Alia's
Roop
mentions
in
the
film,
"Mere
gussa
mein
liye
gaye
Ek
faisle
ne
hum
sab
ki
zindagi
barbaad
kar
di." As
forbidden
romance
seeps
in
with
Roop-Zafar's
love-story,
Balraj
and
Begum
Bahar
too
are
forced
to
confront
their
past
which
threatens
to
tear
their
present
apart
along
with
the
dangling
danger
of
the
partition.
Abhishek
Varman's
Kalank
has
lots
of
gloss-
right
from
opulent
sets
to
resplendent
costumes.
Unfortunately,
they
fail
to
camouflage
the
feeble
story
and
screenplay.
Also,
the
film
borrows
heavily
from
many
films
from
the
past.
(Amitabh
Bachchan's
Trishul
being
the
most
evident
one).
The
disjointed
screenplay
too
takes
a
toil
and
leaves
you
exhausted
with
its
lazy
pace.
Having
said
that,
the
film
does
have
some
shining
moments
which
leave
you
choked
up
with
emotions.
Most
of
them
mostly
surface
in
the
last
30
minutes
of
the
film.
Speaking
about
the
performances,
Alia
Bhatt
succeeds
in
portraying
the
complexities
of
Roop,
a
character
torn
between
love
and
her
duties
with
conviction.
However,
it's
Abhishek's
weak
writing
which
makes
her
go
a
little
off
the
track
at
places.
In
one
of
the
most
meatiest
roles
of
his
career,
Varun
Dhawan
gets
to
dabble
with
a
role
that's
high
on
intense
emotions.
The
lad
bravely
takes
it
heads
on,
but
he
still
has
a
long
way
to
go
when
it
comes
to
mouthing
heavy-duty
dialogues.
Madhuri
Dixit
is
incandescent
as
the
courtesan
Begum
Bahar
and
portrays
the
love,
pain
and
empathy
which
her
character
demands
with
sheer
brilliance.
Sanjay
Dutt
too
puts
up
a
good
show.
However,
one
wished
these
two
had
more
scenes
together
which
could
have
added
a
greater
impact.
Sonakshi
Sinha
chews
the
most
of
whatever
she's
offered
in
a
limited
screen
space.
Aditya
Roy
Kapur
leaves
a
mark
with
his
stoic
silences,
but
fails
to
rise
above
Verman's
poorly-sketched
character.
Kunal
Kemmu
delivers
a
good
act.
Binod
Pradhan's
striking
visuals
perfectly
captures
the
pre-partition
era
and
the
rich
frames
leave
you
mighty
impressed.
Shweta
Venkat
Mathew's
editing
could
have
been
a
little
more
sharp
to
make
the
film
a
little
more
taut.
Also,
the
VFX
in
Varun's
bull-fight
scene
comes
across
as
funny
and
could
have
been
easily
avoided
to
prevent
the
unintentional
chuckles.
While
the
songs
of
Kalank
are
a
visual
treat
to
watch,
the
audio
fares
below
the
expectation
levels.
Barring
the
title
track
and
Ghar
More
Pardesiya,
the
rest
fail
to
linger
for
long.
With
a
stellar
cast
and
a
magnum
production
budget,
Kalank
looked
every
bit
promising
on
paper.
But,
it
simply
fails
to
translate
on
the
big
screen.
To
put
in
Begum
Bahar's
way,
"Weak
story
and
direction
ka
anjaam
aksar
tabaahi
hi
hota
hai."
I
am
going
with
2.5
stars.