Katti Batti - Take 2

Look at some of these stats below

·         Last movie of Shahrukh Khan – Happy new year – 2014

·         Last movie of Hrithik Roshan – Bang Bang – 2014

·         Last movie of Aamir Khan – PK – 2014

·         Last movie of Salman Khan – Bhajrangi Bhaijaan – 2015

If we look at the so called Top Dogs of Bollywood and their last releases then you will see that they are no longer names for which you wait. Amongst the top 4 only one actor got one movie out and this is currently the state of Bollywood.

Let’s look at another angle of this. Karan Johar has directed one movie since My name is Khan in 2010. He has probably casted SRK the most and he is in no hurry to direct movies. But since 2010 his production house has produced 14 movies and none of them starred any of those top 4. There seems to be a shift of faith from not only the archaic tales but also a belief in these actors just pulling anything off.

The no. of Bollywood movies released in 2014 was 201. This is for an industry that is spread through the length and breadth of the country. The no. of Tamil films that were released was 215. So clearly if you are Bollywood movie goer you have to supplement your urge to watch Bollywood movies with movies of other languages or sports or some such.

This is the context in which Nikhil Advani’s Katti Batti comes out. It released at a time where the only movie it competes with is Welcome Back which released on 4^th September, a good 2 weeks before this one. I won’t be taking Nikhil Advani’s Hero and Bankey ki crazy baraat as worthy opponents to this movie. I also don’t know if this is the industry’s tacit understanding to run one movie uncontested atleast for 2 weeks so that the producers make a minimum out of the collections. In essence all I have to say is that if you have ever loved watching Hindi movies then you just have to get out and see Katti Batti because you don’t know how long before the next flick of this cadre will come or will be considered fairly worth it.

Having decided, albeit reluctantly, to watch this movie and now I have the job to say a few words about it. Imran Khan is as goofy as ever. Kangana just gets better with every movie she makes. She carries both the emotional and funny scenes with characteristic ease. The biggest disappointment of the movie has to be Nikhil Advani who had the semblance of a script to make something out of the movie but unfortunately did nothing about it. In an attempt to portray the uber cool youth who still have their hearts buried in Kuch kuch hota hai the director falters more than once making the build up to the main part of the story drab, hotch potch and very unfunny. Advani’s directorial debut was with Kal ho na ho. Since Kal ho na ho  Advani has directed Salaame Ishq, Chandni Chowk to China and Patiala house. If you plot that on a graph of progress you can see how low that line has gone. So what does he do? He goes back to Kal ho na ho in an urban youth setting.

Having said all this Nikhil Advani is a master of emotions. I mean one particular emotion here that is sadness and all other adjectives and noun forms associated with it. He is excellent at bringing that out and someone has to really tell him that’s his forte. Raju Hirani can make you get goosebumps and Nikhil Advani can make you cry. .

Watch the movie because of all the things I spoke about in the first few paragraphs. Else wait up Rohit Shetty will be getting one out pretty soon and that's what we get as a Bollywood fan