Despite all good intentions, T series' Karzzzz directed by Satish Kaushik turns out to be a poor remake of Subhash Ghai's original Karz. It just goes ahead to reinforce the point that has often been made and equally often been dismissed as pure sentimental rubbish, that certain films should be well left alone. Karz was made at a time when Ghai was at his creative peak and despite all Kaushik's best intentions; he fails to match the showman. Ghai was superlative in the manner in which he handled the reincarnation and revenge theme of the original. Besides Ghai's masterly control over his story and screenplay, he even had the good fortune to have a cast of actors like Rishi Kapoor, Tina Munim, Pran, Premnath and of course, Simi Garewal, all of who did full justice to their characters and some quite unforgettable music by Laxmikant Pyarelal.
The reason why one is reiterating all of this is just to point out that this new Karzzzz fails to match the original. Even if one were to leave aside comparisions, the film does not manage to captivate and hold one's interest. Even though it stays mostly faithful to the original, it lacks drama and emotion. The music too fails to stir. The inclusion of the final song, Ek Haseena Thi and the theme music from the original, actually adds to the flavour of the film. Himesh Reshammiya tries too hard and it shows. But despite all his honesty and his hardwork, he also falls dismally short of doing full justice to the role that he takes on. His effort is laudable but it is also true that he has a long way to go as an actor.
The problem with Karzzzz begins and ends with the screenplay. It is lackluster and has no drama and inbuilt emotion. The situations are the same, the characters are the same, but what the remake lacks is any kind of genuine emotion or feeling. The entire action takes place on the surface level and somewhere the poignancy of the original is lost. Even the climatic moment of the remake, when Kamini is trying to kill Monty, this time trying to run him down with a plane, it lacks the déjà vu feeling of the original. There was a desperate energy to the original, when Simi's Kamini tries to run down Monty with her jeep, right in front of the Kali Mandir. Besides, this one can't help but remember Monty's reunion scene with his mother, played by Durga Khote in Ghai's movie. It was very a moving scene enacted brilliantly by Rishi and Durga Khote. Even though Rohini Hattangady is a very talented actress, she fails to be as effective as Durga Khote, not due to any fault of hers but due to the amateurish screenplay and dialogues. It's not just about Rohini Hattangady; even veteran actors like Danny are totally wasted in a role which has no emotional resonance. Even Gulshan Grover in the role of Judah was hardly there to merit any mention. Definitely lacks the menace of Premnath in the original. Of the rest of the cast, even Raj Babbar hardly has anything much to do. Quite a waste of good actors.
Debutante Shweta Kumar, the daughter of Indra Kumar does not make a major impact in the film as Himesh's love interest, but a more because her role has not been very well written in. The girl is a decent enough actress and should do well enough. Urmila Matondakar, who takes the gutsy step of accepting the role of Kamini made famous by Simi's classy act in Karz original, first of all does not look old enough to play Kamini. The age difference between her and Himesh's Monty does not appear to be big enough for the dramatic impact to come out. But even though she has played the character of Kamini very differently, Urmila does a very good job of it.
Himesh has invested quite heavily in this a film. Besides acting, he has composed the music and even sung most of the songs for the film. One thinks that he took too big a risk in taking on a role made so memorable by Rishi Kapoor. As an actor he is quite limited and it shows up in this film. Hence he is not able to do full justice to his character in the movie. Where the film's music is concerned, it fails to strike a chord. Except for a couple of songs, the rest of them appear to be forced, only going ahead to make the narrative loose and turgid.
Karzzzz fails to live up to any kind of expectations. It turns out to be just about adequate. The film could have done with a crisper narrative, fewer songs and better editing. The film lacks intensity, suspense and is just too long. It turns out to be a rather flat attempt by Himesh and Company.
