Here is our review of KEDARNATH starring Sushant Singh Rajput and Sara Ali Khan, does the much talked about debut of Saif Ali Khan’s daughter Sara Ali Khan pulls the required heart strings in Abhishek Kapoor’s directorial?. Find out in our KEDARNATH movie review.
Is Sara Ali Khan a star material?
Coming straight to the point, one of the prime reasons that has made KEDARNATH important – the debut of Sara Ali Khan the daughter of actor, producer Saif Ali Khan. We are glad to say that Bollywood has found a natural actress in Sara Ali Khan. She has the traces of her mother Amrita Singh and from certain angles she does looks like the young redux version and reminded us of the amazingly natural Amrita Singh in CHAMELI KI SHAADI. Sara Ali Khan looks gorgeous and is extremely confident and natural as an actress, she is certainly brings in fresh breeze.
The Story
A bubbly bindass bala Mandakini aka Mukku (Sara Ali Khan) lives in the picturesque valley of Kedarnath with her family. Her father Panditji (Nitish Bharadwaj) is a local priest. A kind hearted pithoo (human porter) Mansoor (Sushant Singh Rajput) becomes the apple of Mukku’s eye and things take dramatic turns as the families of Mukku and Mansoor refuse to approve their pious relationship. The subplot of Kullu (Nishant Dahiya) –the fiancé of Mukku and an influential Brahmin who is planning to have a hotel in the valley is introduced to touch the growing commercialization of pilgrimage centers but an unexpected nature’s wrath hits Kedarnath. Will the lovers survive?, The loss, the gain, the pain and the suffering, questions pop up, while some gets answered, some are left alone.
Analysis
The time for an interfaith love story is always right and looking at the present scenario its can be said it’s just the right time but KEDARNATH may not be the ideal/perfect movie. Director Abhishek Kapoor after the disastrous blunder called FITOOR, redeems himself to an extent. Abhishek Kapoor twines the interfaith love story with the Uttarakhand deluge of 2013. It must be said that the director is never short in his ambition. If FITOOR was his take on Charles Dickens Great Expectations, Abhishek takes the rare terrain of natural disaster in KEDARNATH. The classic WAQT (1965) helmed by Yash Chopra, TUM MILE (2009) from the Mahesh Bhatt camp, The UAE–Indian co-production DAM 999 (2011), the 2014 Tamil movie KAYAL are the one that come to your mind. Abhishek Kapoor is a helmer with a vision and that is seen. The breath taking locales are marvelously captured by Tushar Kanti Ray's camera. The movie is a visual delight, a treat for your eye. However the script written by Abhishek Kapoor and Kanika Dhillon is very weak, it lacks moments and it just couldn’t connect the dots. The romance lacks those genuine moments, though there are a couple of scenes but it’s too simplified and off repeated. No novelty. The issue of commercialization of such holy pilgrimage centers like Kedarnath is just touched upon and forgotten.
Technical Analysis
Mayur Sharma's production design is fine. After Studios's VFX is uneven, Sometimes good, sometimes weird. The colour tone used for floods is strangely dark and grey. Shruti Kapoor and Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla's costumes are elegant. Chandan Arora's editing lacks the edge.
Sushant Singh Rajput
The gifted actor, dancer disappoints. Shockingly in some scenes it’s not clear what he is trying to say. And yes, the influence of his idol Shah Rukh Khan is still visible when he makes those facial expressions.
Other performances
Nitish Bharadwaj leaves his mark. Nishant Dahiya is fine. Pooja Gor as Mukku’s sister has her moments. Sonali Sachdev as Mukku's mother is good. Alka Amin as Mansoor's mother is competent.
Music
An important ingredient in love stories, but here Amit Trivedi music lacks the sweep. The tracks like Namo Namo sound well when one is watching but there is no humming back home number. Hitesh Sonik's background score is strictly passable.
Conclusion – To see or not to see KEDARNATH?
Well, that is the question we are going to leave it up to you and end up by saying, Sara Ali Khan makes an eye popping debut in a movie which is at its best not a ‘disaster’ at least. The makers cleverly twined interfaith love story with natural disaster and wanted us to be moved by the love story first, if not then the big finale, but alas, the movie has already lost its potential sweep much before the storm starts crushing the holy KEDARNATH.
