KARTHIK CALLING KARTHIK
Rings quiet bafflingly and records some fine moments with performance
by Vishal Verma

An Excel Entertainment presentation of a Magic Beans production in association with Excel Entertainment.

Producers: Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani
Co–Producer/Writer/Director: Vijay Lalwani
Genre: Pyscho thriller
Target Audience: Metros and metropolitans


Shooting Locations (City & Country)
Cochin (India)
Swapnanigri (India)


Shooting Studios
Filmcity
Future Studio
Royal Palms
Surve Farms
Mehboob Studio







Starring

Farhan Akhtar...... Karthik Narayan
Deepika Padukone...... Shonali Mukherjee
Ram Kapoor...... Mr. Kamath
Shefali Chhaya...... Mrs. Kapadia



Technical Analysis

Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment’s next after ‘Luck By Change’ again chances on its target pockets - the metros and the metropolitans but this time with a paranoia-inducing suspenser about a spit personality in this sort of psycho thriller toned mind –game of a movie.

Crafted with a commanding aloof precision by Vijay Lalwani in his first outing as a writer and a helmer takes an unusual dive into this genre which is not common in bolllywood without apparent rules and manages to generates an intriguing intellectual intrigue that covers 70% of its running time which allows to arouse buffs, trendies and techies more than the mainstream auds.

Its not those dark, edge of the seat thingie but answers your ‘inner voice’ which demands some expecting moments after the interesting call that comes to our protagonist Farhan Akhtar who after the dramatic appearance in ‘Rock On’ and the difficult but well done ‘Luck By Chance’ learns with ‘Karthik Calling Karthik’.

The actor is at ease in those sweet romantic scenes and shows confidence in playing the happening guy and simultaneously manages to make the viewers note his discomfort in dealing with a voice that changes everything in his life, a bit more intensity lessons for this role would have worked wonders but still it’s a noteworthy performance.

Deepika Padukone the tall and the beautiful lass contributes by her all-important warmth in whatever space and scopes she gets.   

Ram Kapoor as the Boss and the immensely gifted Shefali Chhaya as the psychiatrist chip in with valuable support.

Karthik Calling Karthik’ projects the same sense of style that will inevitably be compared to a cross between Asian and Europe cinema that shows glimpse of steely technical mastery in the service of a story that demands an involving narrative.

But the film is more than a technical exercise, as the protagonist Karthik played by Farhan is actively engaged almost throughout the film going through his nut and gut feelings with the tring tring of the landline always lurking in the background.

The movie does overlook some vital aspects in the characterization and takes liberties which are not easy to digest.

Like normally a person suffering form Schizophrenia is not aware of what the other character is doing but here its shown that he is aware and unaware according to the demand of the script.

The winding up of the entire plot is hurried and appeared forced that threatens to almost kill the tempo and the mystery tone which was twined around.

Regardless of how far one chooses to buy into ‘Karthik Calling Karthik’ there is no doubt that the movie is the one that can be admired without exactly embracing it.

Technically, the film is immaculate, with Sanu Varghese sleek lensing, rich production design, Aarti Bajaj’s sharp editing, Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s grooving score ‘Uff Teri Ada’ is finely done and the dense sound work by Midival Punditz, all making important contributions to help the flick in grabbing 3 out of 5



The Story

'Karthik Calling Karthik', is the story of a lovable loser Karthik, who lives in fear and how his life changes with the help of someone who also claims to be Karthik calls him and makes him a confident human being but things take a ugly turn when he doesn,t listens to one of his advice and loses his job and his pretty girlfriend Shonali (Deepika) and when he overcomes, the viewer gets introduced to an unknown secret.



Promotion

Promotion has been apt and in the media awareness by Imagesmiths has successfully kept the ‘affair’ of the interest amongst the readers alive either with the help of Deepika or the other.



Business Analysis

Well crafted and well acted ‘Karthik Calling Karthik’ is likely to call initial B.O. interest in urban and more upscale markets, but doesn't look to be more than a middle-distance runner in general situations.



Other Credits

Executive Producer: Miriam Joseph. Cassettes and CD's on T-Series. Singers: Loy Mendonca, Shankar Mahadevan, Clinton Cerejo, K K, Kailash Kher, Suraj Jagan and Caralisa Monteiro. Lyricist: Javed Akhtar. Music Director: Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonca. Background Music: Midival Punditz. Cinematography: Sanu Varghese. Editor: Aarti Bajaj. Screenplay: Vijay Lalwani. Sound: Baylon Fonseca. Dialogue: Vijay Lalwani. Costume: Niharika Khan. Publicity Designs: Rahul Nanda and Himanshu Nanda. Reviewed at Famous Studios, Mumbai on February 24, 2010.

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