Karzzzz – Movie Review

Now, when Himesh Reshammiya has himself humbly admitted that he is the worst Monty there could be, you got to cut the guy some slack.

After watching the Satish Kaushik directed Karzzzz you will both agree and disagree with the singer-turned-actor who appears in a reincarnated, capless makeover to play the charming Monty of Subhash Ghai ’s 1980 movie ‘Karz’.

Himesh is right in the sense that he is no match to Rishi Kapoor when it comes to looks, dance and acting. But at the same time Himesh wins you over with his visibly sincere effort to get under the skin of Monty. In ‘Karzzzz’ Himesh is not as stiff and uptight as he was in his debut Aap Ka Suroor . Here he shows more range in his acting, has more facial expressions.

That said, we can now move on to the movie.
We all know what the story is. A man takes revenge from a woman who wronged him in his previous life when she was his lover and he was too smitten to see through her facade. Kaushik has made changes in the setting and put the old wine in a new bottle.

Himesh plays the reincarnated Monty, a rockstar in Cap Town…sorry…Cape Town who falls for a gorgeous girl Tina ( Shweta Kumar ). Urmila Matondkar plays Kamini who killed her lover ( Dino Morea ) 25 years ago to take over his riches. Gulshan Grover plays the mute Sir Juda, the mastermind behind kameeni…sorry…Kamini.

Rohini Hatangadi plays Monty’s old mother who recognizes her reincarnated son the minutes she sets eyes on him. The best performance, however, comes from Danny Denzongpa , who regales you with his rendition of popular dialogues from Bollywood hits, including one from Himesh’s ‘Aap Ka Suroor’.

Satish Kaushik has done an above-average job to make the film worth sitting through despite the fact that everyone knows its story beforehand. We know that eventually Monty will take revenge and Kamini will confess to murder, but the writer (Shiraz Ahmed) has put a few unexpected twists in the tale. Kaushik also extracts a performance from a non-actor like Himesh. Among the ladies, Urmila’s acting is restricted to giving cunning and stern expressions, while newcomer Shweta Kumar has a smaller role in which she smiles more than she acts. Gulshan Grover is over-the-top.

‘Karzzzz’ could have done better with a song or two less in the first half and a little bit of chopping in the over-extended second half. Himesh’s compositions are no match to the great duo Laxmikant Pyarelal’s melodies, but the singer-composer-actor does manage some vim and vigour in ‘Hari Om’ and ‘Tandoori Nights’.

The bottom-line is that if you are a fan of His Himeshness, you would doubtlessly like ‘Karzzzz’. It’s a slick-looking film with a swift pace. But if you are repulsive to Himesh’s nasal twang, don’t forget to carry the earplugs. Otherwise, brace up for some dard-e-dil and dard-e-dimaag.