Thursday, February 28, 2013

'Kai Po Che': And the kite flies high



Image Courtesy: www.indianexpress.com

Rarely does a film merge the political and the personal so effortlessly that history becomes an animated drama of lived experiences. The scars left by either natural calamities or communal riots bleed profusely, emotionally engaging even those for whom these were little more than televised images of violence and loss suffered by unknown people in unknown places. Abhishek Kapoor’s Kai Po Che revisits the deep wounds left by a devastating earthquake, soon to be followed by one of the deadliest communal riots that tore Gujarat into shreds in 2002. The film seamlessly interweaves human lives with larger issues of industrialization of cricket, economic liberalization and the meteoric rise of Hindu fundamentalism. Interestingly, it doesn’t romanticize about a pristine past where the religious communities lived in absolute harmony; rather, it constantly addresses the tension innate in the everyday life of the people, which finally erupts with the volcanic violence of a bloody communal pogrom.


The film opens with what I would call an iconography of Hinduism: a towering temple, a predominance of saffron, the huge temple bell, the little Swastika symbol on the fan’s regulator or the little Om drawn on top of the blackboard.  Initially, what appears to be a harmless assortment of signs and symbols acquires a devastating dimension, after the Savarmati Express carrying Hindu karsevaks is set on fire. The communal riot, clearly engineered by the State, breaks out, in which Muslims are brutally butchered. The mastermind remains invisible all through, but the orders percolate down to the lower ranks of party leaders who execute those orders with a certain degree of aggrandizement it seems. Another man who is neither named nor shown, but who is difficult to miss is Mahatma Gandhi who looms large in every frame of the film, for the cricket coaching centre (that doubles up as sports merchandise shop) is ironically named Savarmati. 


Before the film plunges into the reality of the riot and its attendant losses, it is a happy kite-flying experience on a large open field of friendship, dreams and romance. Ishaan (Sushant Singh Rajput), Govind (Raj Kumar Yadav) and Omi’s (Amit Sadh) invincible trio imbues every scene with the unharnessed energy of youth, innocence and unalloyed affection. A happy-go-lucky and slightly clueless trio of friends planning a future might remind of several coming-of-age stories we have seen in recent times; though Kai Po Che unrolls the flying line in a manner familiar to us, the kite soon takes an untrodden locus before plunging deep into bottomless pits of unspeakable tragedy. 


Ishaan’s untiring effort of making a promising cricketer of little Ali, his never-say-die attitude, his unconditional dedication to his friends, and his dadagiri with a little sister (Amrita Puri) endear him from the very first frame. He often frustrates the more the disciplined Govind who is no less endearing in his own little efforts to rub shoulders with his uninhibitedly mad friends, despite his innate fear of unpredictability. Omi’s graduation from an innocent brat to a brainwashed political worker is achieved through terrible heartbreaks and losses which show in his eyes and the movement of each of his facial muscles. Yet it’s Ishaan, the stereotype 'do-gooder', the brat with a golden heart, who wins over the other two, and this is in tune with our expectation from the narrative and the closure it anticipates. 


Sushant Singh Rajput has arrived on the big screen to kai po che his way to stardom. Amit Sadh would definitely invite industry attention in no small way. Raj Kumar Yadav too has lived up to his role with remarkable credibility, although the other two would take away the audience’s sympathy. Amrita Puri impersonates Vidya’s vivacity with a breezy charm, which is, however, reminiscent of her naivety in Aisha

Rooted in recent history and a gruesome political reality in which we move and have our being, Kai Po Che is sure to cut several kites at the box-office this season. I am sure Abhishek Kapoor and his audience would consider it a blessing that Bollywood’s leading stars refused to be a part of this film! Otherwise, three new stars would not have been born! Right?