
ApunKaChoice.Com	IndiaExpress.Com CricketZone.Com

RSS

HOME | MOVIES | Kal – Yesterday and Tomorrow | Kal – Yesterday and Tomorrow review

Kal – Yesterday and Tomorrow
story in pictures
Picture Gallery

'Kal – Yesterday and Tomorrow' Avoidable

By Nitika Desai
Film critic, ApunKaChoice.Com

Ruchi Narain, the protégée of filmmaker Sudhir Mishra, makes her directorial debut with ‘Kal – Yesterday and Tomorrow’. The movie is a slow paced, semi-realistic flick with a story that falls flat under the weight of its own complications. It is a tale of loss of love, inaptly spun into a murder mystery.

Bhavna (Chitrangda) is a woman mourning the loss of her love of life. Tarun (Shiney Ahuja), once her boyfriend and prospective life partner, unexpectedly got hooked to her best friend Maya (Smriti Mishra).

Maya

is the daughter of a rich man and Tarun too is a smart Alec, not without aspirations of riches.

After Tarun married Maya, Bhavna, a photographer by profession, has been spending her days watching the video clips of messages that were once the way of communication between the coterie of friends of which she was a part. As if to keep her emotional wounds fresh, she keeps replaying the messages that remind of her loss of love to her best friend.

Then a man comes into Bhavna’s life – Rohan (Ram Kumar), a news reporter. On their very first date, when the two begin to get cozy and intimate in Bhavna’s apartment, Tarun makes an unexpected entry. He is drunk and looks completely frazzled. Tarun throws up and passes out.

In the morning, Bhavna wakes up to find Tarun sound asleep. She goes to her work and switches on TV to find that Maya, Tarun’s wife, has been murdered.

The finger of suspicion points towards Tarun. There are other characters like Tarun’s socialite sister (Sarika), Maya's kin (Saurabh Shukla) and Bhavna’s father (Boman Irani) on the sidelines. The rest of the movie is about resolving the mystery of Maya’s murder.

Kal – Yesterday and Tomorrow could have been a much better film had its story had some meat. The movie begins promisingly but it doesn’t take long to realize that the director is at loss. And instead of telling her story with simplicity, unnecessary complications are forced in.

Important details that could have lent some credibility to the story are grossly ignored. For instance, Maya body is never sent for post mortem, the investigation in the murder is too speculative and the police is insignificant.

Ruchi Narain manages to create good frames and captures emotions well when it comes to her story’s characters. But it is a long way for her to go to become a consummate director who can handle various aspects of a story with command and conviction.

The only saving grace of the movie is acting by Chitrangda, Shiney Ahuja and Boman Irani. Chitrangda has a wide range of emotive expressions and she looks particularly convincing while weeping and giving a sad look.

Shiney Ahuja has a right mix of charm and cleverness. He suits his role well. Smriti Mishra plays her role with relative ease. Her small bit at the movie’s end is particularly moving.

Boman Irani, as usual, doesn’t disappoint. On the margins, Sarika and Saurabh Shukla are adequate. Ram Kumar is passable.

On the whole, Kal – Yesterday and Tomorrow fails to make much impact. The story does have unexpected twists, but nothing salvages. Yah, the movie’s end is well shot and leaves an impression.

Avoidable.

[Kal – Yesterday and Tomorrow microsite] [Kal – Yesterday and Tomorrow preview] [Kal – Yesterday and Tomorrow picture gallery] [Kal – Yesterday and Tomorrow cast & crew]

Copyright 2008 ApunKaChoice.com. All rights reserved.