It is the onscreen konnection between Shahid Kapur and Vidya Balan that saves this film from a doomed kismat.
Imagine a funny farce where the out-of-luck protagonist battles one misfortune after another until a girl enters his life as a lucky charm! Aziz Mirza's film Kismat Konnection tells such a tale that is enjoyable in parts but has several dragging disconnections in between.
Set in Toronto, the flick has Shahid Kapur playing a struggling architect whose own life is out of structure because of his phooti kismat. The poor lad has to brave a barrage of misfortunes in doing even as mundane a thing as using an ATM card or rushing to office in his car. A defeated victim of endless misfortunes, he is told by a hamming crystal ball reader ( Juhi Chawla ) that a lucky charm is about to enter his life.
Enters Vidya Balan, a goodie-goodie gorgeous girl who makes things go right for our hero whenever she is around. The luckless architect feels he has found his lucky charm. But unlike other charms, he can't keep her wrapped around his finger. He loves her. But then, he's also ambitious.
Thereby begins that legendary divide between ambition and love that has spawned tomes of romantic stories both on paper and celluloid. The protagonist follows his ambition and manipulates love with a sweet lie. And when the lie is exposed, there's heartache and that customary late realization that success is where love is. So is kismat.
'Kismat Konnection' begins quite well - funnily highlighting the blows of fate the hero has to survive in daily life. It plods when Juhi Chawla enters the scene and hams with no holds barred. It almost comes to a grinding halt when the subplots (like the passionless romantic track between Vidya and her cheating fiancé, or the track surrounding a couple of geriatrics fighting to keep their community home intact) swell out of proportion and overshadow the main plot, which is the bonding between Shahid and Vidya that begins with fighting, turns to friendship and blooms to love before being torn asunder when his hidden lies are exposed.
The plot-holes are far too many to overlook. The end of the movie has Shahid giving a preachy speech about global warming and selfishly profiteering business corporations to convince the board of directors that it is wise to let the old folks keep their community home where a mall is to be built. Sounds ludicrous? Wait, there's more. In the end, the final twist of fate plays out when Boman Irani (in a guest appearance) takes the dais and set things right for our hero.
If the movie becomes watchable it's because its humour works to an extent and also because of sparkling chemistry between Shahid and Vidya.
The two actors not just look good with each other but also play their parts wonderfully well. Shahid is particularly funny as the hapless, luckless, jobless and chickless guy trying hard to turn his bad kismat around. Vidya wins you over with her incredibly believable expressions of a girl falling in love with someone she didn't expect to.
Om Puri is given a poorly etched role but the actor even breathes life into it, playing the character of a business tycoon and a henpecked husband. Juhi Chawla is simply over the top. Vishal Malhotra, as Shahid's sidekick, is just about tolerable.
Thankfully, the film doesn't have many songs and they come after long intervals. The cinematography is pretty average.
Aziz Mirza has the right story idea but he gets trapped and tangled in its telling. Too many subplots keep veering the movie off its main course. And whenever it happens, a viewer feels diskonnected.
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