Review of Kites (2010) by Abhishek S — 20 May 2010

Empty vessels make the most noise, the age old adage holds true for the much awaited kites as well. Rakesh Roshan, has failed his son for the 1st time in a decade. For me the movie was good in parts but the parts were too far apart. Hrithik Roshan, is a amazing dancer, but the choreographers make him either do idiotic steps or repeat what we've seen. 'Fire', the first song has some amazing dance moves, but we've seen that stuff on the idiot box, in shows like Dance India Dance.

Hrithik needs new choreographers, probably foreigners who do the pop star's videos. Action was good, but you felt as if you'd seen all the good stuff in the promos itself. A lot was left desired. What can I say about Barbara Mori though, I love my tacos ;). She has almost mesmerizing screen presence, and who says eye candies need to act? If Katrina Kaif could do this then why not Mori Barbara (serious pun intended).

Most of the movie is in English both spoken and sub-titled. Spanish, Mexican at that, was the second language of the movie and Hindi a distant third. The vocals from Hrithik in 'Kites in the sky' took me to a different world. A world of trained European classical music. Pretty close to Operas. He should do this more often. The editing should have been crisp, and the movie shortened. The cinematography was pretty neat too.

Kangana Ranaut was completely wasted, an amazing talent reduced to the sidelines. Probably to give more space to the imported show piece. One scene that left the theater with me came towards the end. It's raining heavily, and Hrithik in all his fury, is firing bullets from a huge gun. The scene is in slow mo, not yet John Woo, but nice. Hrithik actually moves with the recoil of each of the bullet that is fired and with all his flexibility on display. It transports you to movies like Sin City, amazing scene indeed.

In the end I'd say, the movie lacks story and humor. If the story had more substance, and the movie more action/comedy then it could have been worth the money. Go for it with an open mind and you might not feel cheated. Or go and sit through for that one song 'Fire' and that one action sequence that comes at the fag end. Do we necessarily need to have a love story in hindi movies? What do you say readers?