In an industry that celebrates physical perfection, Hrithik Roshan is the only mainstream Bollywood actor who has played specially – abled characters with flair. From Koi Mil Gaaya to Guzaarish and Kaabil, Hrithik has helped making disability a part of mainstream discourse. Kaabil seems to be a predictable revenge and retribution saga that offers nothing new other than visually-impaired protagonists.
Two young visually-impaired lovers –Rohan and Supriya meet on an arranged date, fall for each other and eventually get married, in between, they talk shop, lose and then find each other in a mall,dance expertly without quite having learnt it and perch themselves precariously in an under construction building. In a nutshell, they do all kinds of things that hold little interest and value for the viewer. The girl plays piano and the guy dubs shows in varied voices. Then tragedy-rape and death-come calling, thanks to two villainous brothers- Ronit and Rohit roy. Additional villainy comes in the form of bad cop.
Needless to say in the second half the film becomes a usual revenge saga, marginally more engaging than deathly dull, dreary and deadening first half. Then there are dialogues from another era- “kya andhera andhere ko roshan karega?” Can two negatives make one positive? The movie also reflects that how a blind person can live his life more effectively. It shows how a common man uses the simple techniques to take the revenge for his wife’s murder. What one can visualize and learn from the movie is that “why should the woman (who is otherwise pitched as an independent and self-reliant one) keep on talking about how things can’t be the same between the couple after the act of violation and why should the man play along with that? The world is neatly stored between the very good and the extremely bad. There is no scope for any in betweenness of being.”
Kaabil is actually a Kaabil movie with superb performances. The transition from romance to tragedy to action is takes the movie on the higher notch. But when we talk about the bolly world, people will promote Raees more, which seems an open blessedness. While Sanjay Gupta deserves more applaud than Rahul Dholakia.
My verdict: “One doesn’t have to wear a mask and cape to be a superhero. If you are fighting your everyday battles and going forward with a calm acceptance of reality, you are a hero.”
– Viany Gupta
Film Maker and Producer, Vinr Films
Vinay Gupta Producer, VinR Films is a third-generation entrepreneur, with rich and varied experience in a wide range of business domains. Vinay is a software engineer from Amity, NOIDA. and has completed his MBA from the IT division of Symbiosis International University. He is also the Founder Director of Dynamic Technosoft (Software Company) and a Director in Vinsam Consultancy Pvt. Ltd. (Investments & Wealth Management Company). In his professional career Vinay has diverse experience in the fields of information technology, software projects, infrastructure development, financial wealth management, film making etc.
