Movie review- film deKI ya picture deKa
After Cheeni kam, Shamitabh yet again in Ki&Ka we have a unique concept from the director R Balki . His ideas are unique for sure and quite quirky. This time around the quirk is on the preconceived gender roles that we as a society have decided for our ladKAs(Boys) and ladKIs(Girls) . While the ladkas have to be the breadwinners , ladkis have to take care of domestic duties, be at home and play the supporting role to their men. This is what has been a traditional norm in the Indian society. While this has definitely changed in the last 10 years or so, we have still a long way to go in being a gender equal society, especially where the mindset is concerned.
Kia(Kareena Kapoor Khan) plays a strong headed, ambitious corporate woman who is all about to challenge this mindset. Single, successful and unmarried she is completely career driven and does not believe in just being a pillar of support to a building, when she can be the whole building herself. Success driven she has her goals spot on.
Enter Kabir(Arjun Kapoor) well educated, heir to a big empire, sensitive, caring, macho, but does not want to be a part of this corporate rat race. Infact here is a guy whose ambition in life is not to be like his dad , bro or some other business guy, but to be like his Mom. Be a housewife!
Their worlds collide, sparks fly and amidst the objections of his father (Rajat Kapor), Ka decides to marry his Ki and become a housewife. Things progress smoothly with Ki rising up in the corporate ladder and Ka turning their house into a home. But slowly once the society realizes the role that Ka is playing in their life,the tables turn and the spotlight slowly shifts on Ka. From Live interviews to speeches to cookery shows, he becomes famous. His videos on innovative food recipes gain him a bigger following on facebook.While Ki accepts this initially, slowly insecurities creep in their relationship. The final nail in the coffin is when Saffola, the cooking oil company that Ki works for wants to cast Ka in their advertisement. Ki refuses but Ka gives in and that’s when jealousy takes over and the relationship develops cracks. How it reaches a boiling point and finally how they get back to being the adorable Ki&Ka then forms the rest of the story.Personally felt the ending was a forcefit since Indians love happy endings.So most filmmakers give them one!After all moolah matters.
Kareena looks gorgeous and does justice to her role. Mr Bansal (Rajit kapoor )as the typical father/businessman, who wants his son to take over his empire has some of the best one-liners and quirks. Swaroop Sampat as Ki’s mother is the doting and understanding career women , supportive of their relationship. She also revels in her role, especially in the climax scene where she advices Ki about how humans end up complicating the most simplest of things and thus drive a wedge in their relationships,quite unnecessarily.
But the one who steals the spotlight here truly is Arjun Kapoor .As the sensitive, modern, caring househusband/wife he manages to build in the right kind of emotions required for this role. Kudos to the director too in presenting Ka’s character as a strong man who wants to challenge the societal norms and is definitely not weak or pansy . However just to establish him as strong physically too, what was a slight force fit was the situation of Ka taking on the eve teasers in the bus. However all said and done this is one of Arjun’s fine acts. Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan also in a special cameo leave an impression besides bringing in a comic relief.
Yes in today’s world people say homemaker to make it sound respectful. But Balki prefers to keep it simple-Housewife.Create an aspiration around it and define it as the work of an artist. That takes some guts. Why should one be ashamed of it. After all if it was not for all the housewives around, how many of us , our fathers included would have achieved their dreams. But what fails short for the movie is that the writer in him is more powerful that the director. Hence the concept/storyline is wow but then the direction & screenplay fall short of doing complete justice. Nevertheless it’s entertaining. Even though the central theme of jealously/insecurity between a star couple is inspired by Hrishikesh Mukherjee's classic Abhimaan, Balki gives is a complete modern twist . Well done!
Lastly countless numbers of women in India continue to be in their homes, dedicated in their roles as a housewife but that does not make them less important than a CEO or a VP. In fact they help create more CEO’s and leaders. What is sad is none of the magazines who feature top women, leaders in India even consider such women. If women themselves won’t treat these housewives with respect , why blame the men alone. There is no doubt that the most thankless job is the world is that of a housewife. No holidays, no breaks and no perks. The job is tough and demanding. Especially when it is never in the limelight and nobody wants to do it. Even my Mom is one and for me she is the most successful leader/manager, I can ever learn from. Like me there are millions in this country. So the next time someone asks us about the occupation of our mothers , use the phrase housewife proudly. It’s time we built an aspiration into it and it definitely does not need a homemaker camouflage.
film deKI ya picture deKa, par agar housewife se zindagi ka managerial skill nahi sikha, toh kya sikha!
Kia(Kareena Kapoor Khan) plays a strong headed, ambitious corporate woman who is all about to challenge this mindset. Single, successful and unmarried she is completely career driven and does not believe in just being a pillar of support to a building, when she can be the whole building herself. Success driven she has her goals spot on.
Enter Kabir(Arjun Kapoor) well educated, heir to a big empire, sensitive, caring, macho, but does not want to be a part of this corporate rat race. Infact here is a guy whose ambition in life is not to be like his dad , bro or some other business guy, but to be like his Mom. Be a housewife!
Their worlds collide, sparks fly and amidst the objections of his father (Rajat Kapor), Ka decides to marry his Ki and become a housewife. Things progress smoothly with Ki rising up in the corporate ladder and Ka turning their house into a home. But slowly once the society realizes the role that Ka is playing in their life,the tables turn and the spotlight slowly shifts on Ka. From Live interviews to speeches to cookery shows, he becomes famous. His videos on innovative food recipes gain him a bigger following on facebook.While Ki accepts this initially, slowly insecurities creep in their relationship. The final nail in the coffin is when Saffola, the cooking oil company that Ki works for wants to cast Ka in their advertisement. Ki refuses but Ka gives in and that’s when jealousy takes over and the relationship develops cracks. How it reaches a boiling point and finally how they get back to being the adorable Ki&Ka then forms the rest of the story.Personally felt the ending was a forcefit since Indians love happy endings.So most filmmakers give them one!After all moolah matters.
Kareena looks gorgeous and does justice to her role. Mr Bansal (Rajit kapoor )as the typical father/businessman, who wants his son to take over his empire has some of the best one-liners and quirks. Swaroop Sampat as Ki’s mother is the doting and understanding career women , supportive of their relationship. She also revels in her role, especially in the climax scene where she advices Ki about how humans end up complicating the most simplest of things and thus drive a wedge in their relationships,quite unnecessarily.
But the one who steals the spotlight here truly is Arjun Kapoor .As the sensitive, modern, caring househusband/wife he manages to build in the right kind of emotions required for this role. Kudos to the director too in presenting Ka’s character as a strong man who wants to challenge the societal norms and is definitely not weak or pansy . However just to establish him as strong physically too, what was a slight force fit was the situation of Ka taking on the eve teasers in the bus. However all said and done this is one of Arjun’s fine acts. Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan also in a special cameo leave an impression besides bringing in a comic relief.
Yes in today’s world people say homemaker to make it sound respectful. But Balki prefers to keep it simple-Housewife.Create an aspiration around it and define it as the work of an artist. That takes some guts. Why should one be ashamed of it. After all if it was not for all the housewives around, how many of us , our fathers included would have achieved their dreams. But what fails short for the movie is that the writer in him is more powerful that the director. Hence the concept/storyline is wow but then the direction & screenplay fall short of doing complete justice. Nevertheless it’s entertaining. Even though the central theme of jealously/insecurity between a star couple is inspired by Hrishikesh Mukherjee's classic Abhimaan, Balki gives is a complete modern twist . Well done!
Lastly countless numbers of women in India continue to be in their homes, dedicated in their roles as a housewife but that does not make them less important than a CEO or a VP. In fact they help create more CEO’s and leaders. What is sad is none of the magazines who feature top women, leaders in India even consider such women. If women themselves won’t treat these housewives with respect , why blame the men alone. There is no doubt that the most thankless job is the world is that of a housewife. No holidays, no breaks and no perks. The job is tough and demanding. Especially when it is never in the limelight and nobody wants to do it. Even my Mom is one and for me she is the most successful leader/manager, I can ever learn from. Like me there are millions in this country. So the next time someone asks us about the occupation of our mothers , use the phrase housewife proudly. It’s time we built an aspiration into it and it definitely does not need a homemaker camouflage.
film deKI ya picture deKa, par agar housewife se zindagi ka managerial skill nahi sikha, toh kya sikha!
Comments