Krrish !!!

Starring
Hrithik Roshan .... Krrish Mehra
Priyanka Chopra .... Priya
Rekha .... Sonia Mehra
Naseeruddin Shah .... Dr. Siddharth Arya

Director : Rakesh Roshan
Producer : Rakesh Roshan
Musician : Rajesh Roshan

Music Album : Krrish

The wait was worth it. More than three years after Koi Mil Gaya , the Roshans return with the movie’s sequel, ‘Krrish’, a thoroughly entertaining film with Hrithik Roshan as its breath and soul.

Trust me, there is no other ‘super’ star who can pull off the role of a superhero as convincingly as Hrithik has done. The actor has the right mix of brawns, youthful exuberance, grit and emotional vulnerability required for the role. He can be romantic, and he can be stern. He can yield, and he can be unforgiving. By large, ‘Krrish’ remains a Hrithik Roshan movie. But that is not to undermine the performances by Priyanka Chopra, Rekha and Naseeruddin Shah.

The

legacy of Rohit – the imbecilic youth who transforms into a superhero and a genius after meeting an alien in ‘Koi Mil Gaya’ – has passed on to his son Krishna, who lives with his grandmother (Rekha) after the death of his parents. Young Krishna’s prodigious abilities, his physical strength and mental intelligence astounds his teachers and other children of his age. But his grandmother doesn’t want the world to know about Krishna’s superpowers. So she takes him to a nondescript village in the mountains where Krishna grows in the lap of nature into a strong, handsome, brawny young man (Hrithik).

He runs faster than his horse, jumps long distances in a single leap and climbs the mountains like a spider moving through its web. Only few are aware of Krishna’s qualities. These qualities make him special. But they also make him a sort of outcast among normal people.

Then, love enters Krishna’s life. It literally falls from the open skies into his lap as he rescues a wide-eyed, city-bred girl (Priyanka) from her faulty parachute landing atop a tree.

Their first meeting, as they keep sliding down branch after branch, with the girl in Krishna’s arms, has been shot very beautifully.

It turns out that the girl is Priya and she is a part of a group of adventure seekers from Singapore.

A few pranks follow between Krishna and Priya and her campmates. The campers also get to see Krishna’s super-abilities. While Krishna shows Priya around his scenic village, he falls in love with her. But she returns to Singapore after a mere ten-day stay.

Then she calls him to Singapore on a false pretext, pretending her love for him. In truth she wants to save her job by showing Krishna’s skills on the TV channel she works for.

The gullible Krishna is eager to go to Singapore. But his dadi (Rekha) doesn’t want to send him into the world. She fears that the clever world will use Krishna the way it used and destroyed his father Rohit.

Anyway, Krishna goes to Singapore with the promise that he will conceal his qualities from the world. In the concrete jungle full of high-rises and skyscrapers, Krishna meets both good and bad people. But, can he conceal his super powers? Is he clever enough not to be used by people for their advantage? And will he be able to stop a megalomaniac scientist from making a computer that sees the future? In all the action and drama that follows, Krishna finds more than love. He finds someone whom he had presumed dead.

Right from the opening reels to its conclusion ‘Krrish’ keeps you riveted to the screen. With the exception of a few songs, the movie flows smoothly without dragging even for a moment. There are good hilarious moments in the first half. Even the movie’s supposed villain, Dr. Siddhant Arya (Naseeruddin Shah), is not without a comic knack.

But it is the action and stunts that stands out throughout the movie. Krrish’s giant leaps, his upward somersaults in the air, his skidding through the trees in the forest and his speedy movements (faster than a bullet) reminds me of the action from films like ‘Crouching Tiger’, ‘House of Flying Daggers’ and ‘Matrix’.

‘Krrish’, the movie, fuses these stunts with romance, comedy and fights in a very digestible dose. And the credit for this goes to Rakesh Roshan, the movie’s writer, producer and director. Roshan senior has made a quality product – a film that lays foundation for other films of similar genre. Although some stunts could be depicted graphically more realistically, but that would require a very huge budget.

‘Krrish’, quite an expensive movie by Indian standards, heralds the ‘superhero’ genre creditably.

Besides Hrithik’s superb performance in the film, Priyanka Chopra holds her ground and breezes through her role with the act that doesn’t demand serious histrionics. Rekha still has a natural charm in her beauty. She provides emotional moments in the film.

Naseeruddin Shah is eloquent as usual, not just in his dialogues but also his facial expressions. I wish he had a longer role in the film.

All said, ‘Krrish’ is definitely worth a watch, if not more. The film is a wholesome entertainer that will appeal particularly to teenagers and kids.