Ki & Ka

Cast	:	Kareena Kapoor Arjun Kapoor
Director	:	R Balki
Cinematographer	:	P. C. Sreeram
Music	:	Ilaiyaraaja Mithoon and Meet Bros Anjjan
Producer	:	Eros International Hope Productions
Release Date	:	April 01, 2016
Length	:	2 Hours & 6 Minutes
Language	:	Hindi

My Thoughts

Director R.Balki’s Ki & Ka handles a refreshing and a progressive subject – the man taking care of the house and the woman working in the office. The trailer was smart and grabbed people’s attention. In a times where advertisements propagates that men should also share the “load” with women or that the husband could work as a subordinate to his wife, this movie takes an idea that could sound absurd to many and almost impossible to all. Come on, can any of us imagine a house husband who would be the pillar of support to his wife and helps her not only to follow her dreams but also to seize them! However, Ki & Ka handles this controversial and almost impossible subject wonderfully. The pitch is set right from the first scene.

Kia (Kareena Kapoor Khan) is an ambitious woman who thinks that marriage and children would stop her from going where she wants to be. Kabir (Arjun Kapoor), a topper from IIA-B, is confident that he doesn’t want to run in a rat race and eventually die. He wants to be like his mother, a housewife, who did almost everything to make a home out of the house. When these two people meet, no sparks emit; but a comfortable camaraderie happens. They get married against the wishes of Kabir’s father. Soon, Kabir becomes the home maker and Kia the bread winner. Through Kia, Kabir becomes famous. Later, he becomes the inspiration to many through his motivating speeches. He becomes the face of gender neutrality. Kia starts feeling jealous of him. She thinks that he does almost nothing and yet grabs all the attention. She believes that he doesn’t deserve so much appreciation. Would Kia and Kabir accept their respective roles and carry on together or would they fall apart? This is forms the rest of the story.

The negative response for Ki & Ka forced me kill all the expectations. Also, the director has a tendency to spoil the screenplay by overindulging in the idea (Remember the melodrama in Cheeni Kum and the monologues in Shamitabh). I went to watch it with an open mind. But, thankfully, the script was handled well. It spends equal amount of time to take us through the lifestyle of both Kia and Kabir. Even the climax looked real. Married people don’t fight forever or hate each other all of a sudden because of a few mean things they utter in anger.

The relationship between the characters are well established. Everyone knows their priorities. The screenplay is not redundant and often shows the clichés with Kabir in it which looks refreshing. The background is good and the songs are okay. P.C. Sreeram’s cinematography gives a rich and classy tone for the film. The close-ups shots brings out the best of actors. The editing ensures that there are no bore moment.

Kareena Kapoor Khan as the workaholic Kia looks graciously aged; yet beautifully fit as fiddle. Her outfits are smart. She sometimes carries a little bit of Jab We Met Geet like charm! Arjun Kapoor as the homemaker gives his 100% and becomes the dream husband to all the girls.

Having said that, Kabir’s obsession with trains could be annoying. Toy trains run across the living room, kitchen and bed room. The interiors is done like a railway station. Kabir’s ringtone is that of a train’s sound. It is understandable that a man may not decorate the house in the same way as woman. Still! I hope now you understand what I meant by the director’s tendency to overindulge in his own idea.

Further, bigger issues like how the similar relationship quotient would be handled after the birth of a child is not mentioned. In fact, in a scene where Amitabh Bachan (in a cameo as himself) asks Jaya Bachan (Cameo again as herself) if Kia and Kabir have children yet. There are hints that the couple don’t prefer to have children, which is good to simplify the storyline. But, isn’t that a subject worth discussing while putting across a new family model?

To sum up, the movie is worth a watch. I am sad that the movie received bad reviews. I tried to find what could be the reason. Then, I concluded that the reviews were written either by men who don’t want to be like Kabir or women who are already married/committed to men who know that such an idea would remain as an idea. But, I ask, what is wrong in appreciating a story that is so different; so impossible? Of course, we have become progressive enough where men and women share their load, where women multi-task and all that. But can there be men who would shed their male ego and understand that being at home as well as taking care of a home is a full time job? Ki & Ka presents such a man before us. Why don’t we just see what he does and how he manages? Why should we not untangle ourselves from the accepted societal norms? Why don’t we teach our sons that it is okay to be a man and so house chores? Why don’t we tell our daughters that they can be career oriented because they have also spent equal time as men in studies? Why don’t we just tell our children to follow their dreams?

Why don’t we just watch Ki & Ka!

Rating

3.5/5