Ki & Ka

‪#‎Ki‬&Ka: I wanted to give it 7; but my wife demanded little more. We argued, we debated, and then we finally settled for 7.25/5.

And I guess that's the only essence of this brilliant ‪#‎love‬, ‪#‎relationship‬ movie from R.Balki, which is somewhere between traditional and modern, yet loaded with highly practical, anti-age- old advice for those who think that being in a relationship is actually tough (or easy!)

Overall, I would describe the movie as a mixture of several Bollywood movies of this genre; as if R.Baliki is giving an ode to all previous directors: It has the pride and ego of Abhimaan, the wit, intellectuality from Bawarchi; the complexities and subtle emotions from Saathiya as well as the dark, mysterious elements of love from Hum Tum. R Balki has picked up ingredients from these movies, reversed the protagonists and the conflicts and presented via ‪#‎KiKa‬.

If Kareena Kapoor is the burning deity of hardcore feminism in this movie, then Arjun Kapoor is the epitome of gender equality and the evangelist and advocate against running the 'race'. Watch it with a pinch of salt, and get immersed in the awesomeness of food-porn, get bewitched by the portrayal of a successful blogger, and some untraditional, out of the box experiments which A-list stars seldom try out.

Watch it with an open mind, remembering the fact that the director had earlier given us path-breaking cinema like Cheeni Kum, Pa & English Vinglish. Ki&Ka won't change your life; but yes, it will seep an idea about the 'positive' change all right!

7.25/10

R.Balki's 'Ki & Ka' is innovative, progressive & amusing. This film breaks the stereotype of the hero-heroine concept & offers an all new approach. Its far from perfect, but it has a good heart & the narrative holds at most times.

'Ki & Ka' follows of how A young couple's (Kareena & Arjun) marriage challenges the gender roles placed upon men and women in Indian society.

'Ki & Ka' is about a man who enjoys being a house-husband & a women who proudly runs the house. Its a fresh thought & Balki's Writing offers enough scope for humour & some drama. Its amusing to watch this brand new take on romance & society unfold in those 124-minutes. The first-hour is nicely balanced on how its protagonists meet & their subsequent sudden their marriage, but the second-hour slows down & the jealously angle from the lady's point of view, when the man becomes a craze for his uniqueness, doesn't really work. In fact, 'Ki & Ka' has a breezy first-hour & sets things right up, but the second-hour loses pace, as the proceedings become loose. However, things come back on a track, as the finale, is cute.

Balki's Screenplay is engaging at most parts, but a sharper & more convincing second-hour would've elevated the narrative. Blake's Direction is competent, as always. Cinematography is well-done, although a few frames are distracting. Editing is neat. Music by Various Artists is wonderful. Art & Costume Design are good.

Performance-Wise: Kareena & Arjun make for a good on-screen couple. Kareena shines from start to end, enacting the part of an authoritative wife with remarkable conviction. Arjun is extremely likable as the loving, younger husband. Also, the on-screen chemistry between the two, is exciting. In supporting roles, Swaroop Sampat is adorable as Kareena's lovable mom, while Rajit Kapur is perfect as Arjun's miffed dad. Amitabh & Jaya Bachchan are delightful in cameos.

On the whole, 'Ki & Ka' dares to be different & yet it doesn't forget to entertain. Recommended!

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.

"Hello! My name is Kabir and I am a house wife (husband)" is the main theme of this movie. This movie is a negative mask, that converts every right perspectives, traits, norms and ethics into an opposite. Mr Balki has once again come up with an innovative,fresh and yet slightly controversial topic as before. The movie focuses on marriage lives in subcontinent but in a never seen before manner. Ka(Arjun Kapoor) Ki (Kareena Kapoor) is a married couple in which Ki(Kareena) plays the husband and Ka(Arjun) plays the wife. The story emphasize that it is not mandatory for women only to stay at home and perform domestic tasks while assigning the outer duties to the male partner rather the same can be implemented in an entirely opposite way. This situation creates a natural comic angle and curiosity in the movie that is maintained till the end. A husband has been shown supporting his wife while staying at home and doing house keeping so that his wife can fulfill her dreams and becomes a very successful business woman. But at times success and over commitment of one partner becomes indigestible for the other and this marks the commencement of disputes between them leading towards more problems. Kareena and Arjun Kapoor has done a fabulous job by doing complete justice to their roles. Kareena Kapoor has appeared so fresh after a long time since "Jab We Met". A short cameo by "Big B" and "Jiya Bachhan" serves as icing on the cake towards the climax. R. Balki has proved his direction abilities and capabilities once again and deserves applause for bringing an altogether new dimension of thinking towards personal relations. A recommended movie to be watched by couples for sake of understanding the value and importance of each others role in real life!!!!

If all went reversed in society, men at home, women in office, how would it be? Well, of course, this movie just focusses on a single couple but it's an interesting take. It started slow, brought comedy and a cheesy ending. I wouldn't say it's worth a watch but curiosity is what made me watch this one. :)

PEACE OUT !!!