Katti Batti
Director: Nikhil Advani
Starring: Imran Khan, Kangana Ranaut
Two stars
If you’ve seen the trailer for
Katti Batti
, you’ve already seen all the best bits. The stars, Kangana Ranaut and Imran Khan, waxed eloquent about how the film offers a realistic look at relationships and break-ups – but the truth is that it is over dramatic and very “filmy”, not really authentic at all.
Khan portrays Madhav, a geeky architect who falls in love with Payal, a jet-setting bohemian who leaves everything behind to move in with “Maddy” when college is over.
The film also features a bossy sister, an overprotective best friend, a stereotypical evil ex-boyfriend, a band called Fosla (their name standing for “frustrated one-sided lovers association”), and a token hot girl who is only used for one night stands after a break up.
There was a lot of hype around the film, which was supposedly inspired by the acclaimed Hollywood comedy-drama
500 Days of Summer
– but there is absolutely no connection, which is probably a good thing as the makers of that film would probably be affronted to be connected in any way with
Katti Batti
.
Khan has a lot of screen time which, given his acting “skills”, is not a good thing. Ranaut is reduced to a role that is little more than a clothes horse, and her acting skills are only put to use during the last half-hour of the movie.
The film is two-and-a-half-hours long but feels a lot longer, as Khan spends a lot of time looking back at what went wrong in the relationship. As such, the film offers a very one-sided perspective and is awfully sexist for a “coming of age” film.
Director Nikhil Advani’s attempts to inject some humour fall flat – scenes that involve Khan pinching a baby to make it cry, cuddling his pet turtle while talking about his mummy, damaging an expensive pot because he wasn’t given the information he wanted, and a ridiculous Devdas re-enactment fail to raise any laughs.
The music is mediocre, the plot rubbish and the climax incredulous. Save your money and give this one a miss.
