Ki & Ka

Ki & Ka review :

In one of the scene's in R. Balki's 'Ki & Ka', Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan playing themselves, discuss gender role reversals. Jaya asks Amitabh if he would have been happy being a homemaker while allowing her to continue acting after their marriage. While the Big B awkwardly retorts that he would be perfectly fine with that arrangement, his face and body language indicate otherwise. That amusing scene pretty much sums up the basic concept of Balki's fourth feature film.

Balki, whose films are invariably driven by concept rather than a strong screenplay, gives a fine twist to the gender expectation set by our society - It's ladKA who earns the bread and the ladKI who applies the butter on it. In a role reversal, Balki's KA or Kabir (Arjun Kapoor) prefers to be the househusband to his KI or Kia (Kareena Kapoor) who toils it out in corporate boardrooms.

They meet each other aboard a boring flight and despite a 3 year age gap (Kia's older to Kabir), decide to be life partners more out of their individual choice. She aspires to be a CEO while he, inspite being an IIM topper, wants to be like his mom. Expectedly, Kabir's billionaire builder dad (Rajit Kapur) throws a fit while Kia's mom (Swaroop Sampat) inquires about their sexual compatibility. Anyways, marriage happens and with it, comes the problems and misunderstandings.....

The story as such, is minimalistic and Balki plays around with situations rather than going for narrative twists and turns. A few sequences are truly amusing like the pregnancy scare and Kabir proudly displaying his mangalsutra as a bracelet. Having said that, Balki's concept appears stretched for a full length feature film. Being an ad film maker, I believe he is used to executing high level concepts within a short time frame and seems to struggle a bit in the second hour by which time he is finished with what he had to say. The second half of Ki & Ka dips and dithers - a flaw I had observed in his previous outing 'Shamitabh' (2015) as well.

More on the flipside count those irritating product endorsements from Kalpataru Towers to Saffola oil to even a pregnancy test kit...yikes. Also, the way Kia's office colleagues accept Kabir as a househusband looks unconvincing. C'mon guys, if my female colleague were to introduce her spouse to me like that, my face would naturally show some amount of surprise. That scene actually had potential to expose the societal gender role bias which was frittered away. The ending also appears to be a rushed up job.

Of the cast, Kareena Kapoor is completely convincing as the go-getter career minded woman. She looks ravishing and also shares a sizzling chemistry with her co-actor. As for Arjun Kapoor, possibly reliving his teenage fantasy about Kareena :), does a fine job as the hubby who likes to chop vegetables at home rather than present powerpoint decks in board meetings. Swaroop Sampat as the open minded mom brings the nostalgia of her 'Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi' serial (1986) days.

Technically, P. C. Sreeram's cinematography is of the highest order. Music by maestro Illaiya Raja and couple of others fits the mood of the film. Editing by Chandan Arora could have been better.

To sum up, Ki & Ka works more at concept level though not everyone will subscribe to it. Eminently likeable through it's 126 minute duration, this gender blender is recommended to all the Ki's and Ka's who frequent high end multiplexes for their weekend entertainment.

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Ki and Ka has one hell of an interesting premise.

Kareena Kapoor aka Kia doesn't want to get married and have kids as that will ruin her career while Arjun Kapoor aka Kabir is very happy to play the house husband with no ambitions inspite being from a wealthy family and B School topper. They get married but how long will this last?

The 1st half of the movie is fun filled. The way Kabir and Kia meet. Kabir is not the usual Hindi hero; he cries and tells Kia that housewife is an artist. How Kabir convinces her to marry him? How Kabir takes over running the house and becomes a favorite of all the ladies in the apartment. Frankly, the 1st half is simply awesome.

Its when the 2nd half starts that the cracks arise in the marriage and that when the movie starts to sink. The problem in 2nd half is that Balki and his co writer Virmani have no clue how to take the movie forward. So there is a stupid scene of Kia worried that she is pregnant and takes multiple pregnancy tests.

And, finally to ensure that there is a dramatic end they turn the film into a very old Amitabh Bachchan classic called Abhimaan. The only difference is here Kia gets jealous of Kabir's success. There is also one stupid mandatory fight scene to show that Kabir is still a man. Seriously !!

Very ironically, when the movie loses steam, Balki takes help of Jaya and Amitabh Bachchan who stared in Abhimaan and comes with a nice interesting piece between them. Both the actors steal the show in the 10 mins they have but those 10 mins also makes the viewer think about marriage and roles a husband and wife play.

Which also brings me to the question of what Balki was thinking while writing the movie? The problem with Ki and Ka is that Balki takes the story very seriously. If he wrote the 2nd half as the 1st which is fun filled and less preachy, this film would have been a cracker.

The film is also watchable because of its leads. Kareena Kapoor proves to us what a fabulous and talented actress she is. The fact that she ends up signing blockbusters with minuscule roles is the sad part of her career. I hope she concentrates more on the roles she signs because she is still capable of giving Deepika and Kangana a run for their money.

Arjun Kapoor also does a commendable job and is at ease playing the house husband who never looses his cool. I don't believe any other actor who have risked is career but Arjun takes it and shines.

And, finally both the Kapoors share one hell of a chemistry on screen which also lights up the movie.

However, I believe Ki and Ka could have been a landmark film for Hindi Cinema had Balki got the idea correct. He misses the plot and for me its an opportunity lost.

Director and writer Mr. R. Balki successfully breaks the established norms of gender biased society. He enhances the concept with adding perfect shots and churning out right expressions from actors. Story line is thin but screenplay and dialogues make it lovely. You can witness freshness in approach even from beginning of film. The way they meet and introduced on screen. The way Kia takes to meet Kabeer to her mother is good and the way Kabeer father reacts being introduced Kia by Kabeer and her reply is fantastic. When Kabeer catches maid red handed, the way this scenes handled is appropriate for the premise, even she is not fired but warned in cute way. Kabeer father wishing him Happy birth day is quirky but it shows the equation between father and son and it gets justified and enhances the climax. Perfect example of establishing characters and using it in proper way. Kabeer and Kia heated argue culmination is very good. Even the guest appearance of Mr. Amitabh Bachhan is very entertaining. His expressions are awesome and this plot is also used to realizing Kia's over reactions. Pre climax dialogues by Kia's mother about justification of gender with work is very good. Climax is emotional and impressive. Only drawback in this film is, its 30 minutes of second half which is full of montages and in films ads, promoting lots of brands in non creative and stuffed way. It slow the movie pace up to level of boring. Performance wise Kareena Kapoor is fabulous. Arjun Kapoor is endearing and balanced. Swaroop Sampat as Kia mother is very good. Rajat Kapoor as Kabeer father is good. Music wise "High heel Par Nache" is peppy and foot tapping.

Film released on 1st April by Balki named Ki and Ka was a unique work .the writer and director of film Balki tried to touch a new issue showing that a woman named Kia is a goal oriented working woman who married to a man who is more interested in putting his efforts in useful ways rather than just be in a race of success. Movie proceeds with a slight touch of love, compassion and friendship between the two husband and wife . One of the best part of movie was the mother being such a supportive mother-in-law and so the respect given by Kabir . Another dilemma of society is being manifested about the love relations of 21st century. Most of them are more based on status,position,name and family's background rather than what does a man or woman actually worth as mentioned by Ki's mother. The way both of them managed to pursue their dreams was commendable. Yet I think movie went to the side of extremism, showing that man could sit at home and can be a support for a successful woman . Man can be a support by working out because what is important is motivation rather than management of house. Movie would have been more appealing if the writer would have shown that man can work at home,at his office and can support his wife all at same time as he is a man (multi tasked). If the point was to show how hard working women are at home than why Ka failed to manage his house while he became a famous speaker because that's what today's woman can do , manage both. The house of Ka was decorated exquisitely by Ka showing that he was actually an artist. The symbolic role of Ka's mother was a true inspiration showing that people working at house are not 'doing nothing '. Taking her as a role model was a good move . As the writer and director of the film is the same person so he didn't want to cut out any of his dialogue because of which movie became a Little bit out of pace showing same scenario in quite a detail added with songs.apart from all ,the biggest flaw in the movie was the climax which they tired that exists by saying again and again'I am having acidity due to curiosity ' by actually movie failed to cause any acidity to audience.it was a sweet piece to watch showing the husband wife cooperation , although cuddling scenes were more than needed but overall it was a one time watch . The last message given by mother was block Baster line indication of the fact that problem lies with the earning soul whoever that is. He or she gets use to fame and the person living at home gets ignored that was really the line to applause and instead of Ka and Ki controversial issue , it should be extracted.In the nutshell such movie with different issues should be made but a need of more refined focus is needed. And lastly thumbs up for the stunning looks and acting of Karena and Arjun Kapoor.The guest appearance of Amitab Batchan and Jia Bachan was a source of audience attention which was furtive by the message of Jia for Ki.Couples need to give it a try.

Ki & Ka – Breaking age old conventions & social conditionings! The female is Kia and the male is Kabir – Hence Ki & Ka.

About Male –

Son of a filthy rich real estate bizman. Father had a belittling attitude towards mother and thought she did nothing at home apart from sitting idle! Well, since they were filthy rich....there is not much that a wife does – apart from shopping, playing Mahjong, attending kitty parties etc....unless of course the Bizman was struggling during his youth and was surviving on measly salary – then the wife really comes handy – she buys food/ vegetables herself, washes utensils, clothes, cooks etc. – even then the members of the family think that she is not good enough! All the good-for-nothingness of the wife get further more exaggerated if there is a mother-in-law around (MIL hereinafter). You see many MILs cannot tolerate the fact that some unknown stranger female will come and have a good and comfortable time at her house! MILs often compare their days of youth with the present day and try to torture the daughter-in-law (DIL hereinafter) just as she was humiliated or tortured when she was a newly wed bride...anyways, I am diverting from the main story! Read on... So Kabir had witnessed the humiliating attitude of his father since childhood and was very upset about it. He was intelligent in studies so he did manage to finish his MBA from a good Institute. But he did not want to join the rat race – he wanted a cushy job of a home-maker. He wanted to be a 'WIFE'! wow!

About Female –

Kia had lost her father at a very young age. Her mother had to become both father and mother to the child – and we all know how important is money to run the family. Mother therefore gets busy with her profession...and of course also feeding & educating her daughter Kia. They lacked a man-figure in the house. Both of them had become males in the journey of life. Their house appeared as if it was hit by a tornado – unkempt and dishevelled! When Kabir had first visited their house, he even commented if they had a dog at home.....shows how terribly unkempt both the mother daughter were...in spite of a maid !

Story line- So ka and ki meet, Ka tells about how he disrespects his father because all his life he had seen him disrespecting his mother! They go around, try out sex and were probably happy with the outcome of the sex-session...so they decide to get married. Mother of Kia confirms from daughter – right in front of Ka - whether she had had sex with him or not – which is very important for marriage commitment! Really !! So very modern outlook!! Triple WOW!! So the movie is trying to convey to the youths..and adults and the aged...that youngsters should be allowed to have sex before wedlock.

Like male A will have sex with female B – if they are not satisfied with each other sexually, male A will have sex with female C and Female B will try out sex with male D....then Male D, who had tried sex with female F, G & H...and had rejected them all because they were not sassy enough as compared to what he had been watching in triple X blue films, will recommend an orgy session with female B because he is really really confused about his sexual preferences!

Anyways, they get married. Ki already had a beautiful flat but after all ka was the son of a rich bizman – he had picked up wasteful habits ..so he renovates the entire house and turns it into an 18th century railway station! Yuk! (I certainly would have kicked him out for this.....anyways pretty far fetched thought – I would never have agreed to such a stupid proposal...maybe because I have had a very normal childhood and I know the difference and importance of both father figure and mother figure in one's life.....and my mother was a very dominating personality.... she dominated with love..and no one in his or her sane mind would ever meddle with the source of sheer, selfless, unconditional love!) Maid Servant episode There is a scene where the maid arrives and thinking that all the family members must have gone to office, calls over her boyfriend to have sex in the AC room! Ka did not drive her away....but politely asked her if she had changed the bed-sheets after having sex ! Wow! Such an understanding kewl dude....the AC is on for 3-4 hours as long as she works, she watches TV and even keeps the house unkempt (remember the 1st time kabir visited the house, it looked like a kennel?) and all that the master of the house..no mistress of the house...whatever – had to say was 'Please change the bedsheets, Thankyou.'!! Gosh! Such creeps – devil knows what Bollywood tries to prove by showing such behaviour towards the wrong doer!

This film is basically a kick on the mouth of those women who consider it lowly to be a housewife and have joined the rat race...esp. to compete with men! Ka showed that recognition and fame, that humans hanker for, could be achieved by being a good home maker too! Ka starts making home cooked, healthy food videos and he becomes more famous than Ki. They fight...then make up at the end.

Story over.