FILM REVIEW

FILM NAME:-KALANK

Kalank, a pre-Partition drama about star-crossed lovers Roop (Alia

Bhatt) and Zafar (Varun Dhawan) is the millennial reprised version of
films like Yash Chopra’s Waqt that settle for historical events as a
backdrop to family sagas.

The story set in a fictitious city Husnabad close to Lahore is

about Zafar, an ironsmith and also the illegitimate child born of
an affair between Bahaar Begum (Madhuri Dixit-Nene) and Balraj
Chaudhary (Sanjay Dutt).

Roop, born to a poor musician, is expected to marry Dev

Chaudhary (Aditya Roy Kapur), the aristocratic owner of a
newspaper to change the family fortunes. When Dev’s cancer-
stricken wife Satya (Sonakshi Sinha) shows up asking for her
hand as a companion of sorts, it's just too tempting an offer to be
passed up. This arrangement is agreed upon and Roop finds
herself in a new home and an awkward relationship.

Zafar, on the other hand, seeks revenge. He wants to destroy

Balraj Chaudhary's family name and in the restless Roop, he
finds the perfect opportunity to do so. It's the perfect recipe for a
love story with disastrous consequences.

Shibani Bathija's story was ripe for the explorations of both

human frailties and greatness. And what better way to put those
to test than throw them in a crisis and sit back to watch the
outcome. Kalankdoes all of that but the two that really truly
reveal themselves are Roop and Zafar. As for the rest, the
screenplay, unfortunately, does not allow the fine ensemble
enough room for standout performances.

Instead, way too much time is spent on the close-ups of a

glowing Alia and shirtless Varun beating hot iron into swords. As
an aside, during the promotions of 2 States, producer Karan
Johar had ribbed director Abhishek Varman endlessly about
nursing a crush on Alia! After watching Alia's countless close-
ups, I admit, I did wonder if there was any truth to it!

On the upside, all actors, especially the supporting ones, despite

the scant attention paid to their character details, hold forth,
adding heft to scenes where they can. Madhuri as the imperious
courtesan torn between her love for a wronged son and her duty
to act righteously is delightful. Her fans will complain about her
being given precious little to do but she is impressive, regardless
of the screen time. Aditya, despite having fewer scenes, as well
as Kunal Kemmu, hold their own.

The lead pair has its famed on-screen chemistry intact but
individually too, they put in competent performances. Varun gets
better with every film and in Kalank, he again surpasses
expectations, as does Alia.

Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali's grandiose, operatic influence in

songs and set design is more than evident especially in the way
that Hira Mandi, the abode of Bahaar Begum, is designed.
Costumes by Maxima Basu and Ajay Kumar are the last word in
ethnic chic and are likely to set a few trends.

To sum it up, Director Abhishek Varman dresses up this old

fashioned
Review of Star Plus’ Yeh Rishtey Hain
Pyaar Ke: An engaging family show with
great characters
IWMBuzz.com reviews the Rajan Shahi show on Star Plus, Yeh Rishtey Hain
Pyaar Ke. Read here to know how we see it
Author: Srividya Rajesh
01 Apr,2019 19:49:36

Ace Producer Rajan Shahi’s renowned banner Director’s Kut has literally created
a hat-trick of sorts when it comes to churning out well-etched shows with great
family values with the newest presentation on Star Plus, Yeh Rishtey Hain Pyaar
Ke.
Rajan’s earlier shows Sapna Babul Ka Bidaai and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai,
for Star Plus have done well and have had a great run.

Following on the footsteps of the earlier two success stories is this new one,
which is actually the spin-off of Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai.

Yeh Rishtey Hain Pyaar Ke, the concept brings to light the ideologies that the
new generation shares about the age-old customs of the society with respect to
arranged marriages.

It brings to light the view points of the youngsters of today, on how they want to
live a liberated life wherein they would want to spend time with the person and
know him / her well before taking the plunge of getting married. Yeh Rishtey Hain
Pyaar Ke is a beautifully woven story of joint families holding on to the age-old
customs and the manner in which the younger generation feels suffocated and
wants to live life according to their terms.

This story of two brothers and two sisters reminds us of the wonderfully-crafted
tale of Rajan Shahi, Sapna Babul Ka.. Bidaai. Well, the similarity does stop here,
asthe premise of Yeh Rishtey Hain Pyaar Ke is set up differently.

This show being the spin-off of Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai has an easy move-
on with the viewers as one main family in the show, that of Maheshwaris is quite
well-known.

Coming to the Rajvansh family, it is headed by Meenakshi Rajvansh (Rupal

Patel) for whom responsibilities towards her family comes before anything else.
She is a principled woman, who knows how to manipulate with words and
situations so that she gets what she wants.

Nanu, father of Meenakshi played by Deepak Gheewala is again a very

interesting character. Though he abides to whatever his daughter says, he has
his own uncanny knack of moving the pawns.
We have the two sons of the house, Abir Rajvansh aka Shaheer Sheikh and
Kunal Rajvansh, that is Ritvik Arora. Abir is a full-of-life guy who is the only one in
the house to call a spade a spade, even if it means getting into the bad books of
his mother Meenakshi. He is the only one who can see through his mother’s
manipulative nature.

Kunal, more of the mumma’s boy has gone through a broken relationship which
has been hurting him even today. His mother has tactfully got him involved in
business matters to keep him engaged, so that he does not get lost in love.

The Rajvansh family has Kaushal (Sanjiv Jotangia), Nidhi (Sangeeta Kapure),
Parul Massi (Chaitrali Gupte) playing vital roles.

On the other hand, Maheshwaris have Vishambarnath Maheshwari (Sanjeev

Seth) and Rajshri (Lata Sabharwal) spearheading their family. While Mishti
(Rhea Sharma) has been accepted by the Maheshwaris with grace post her
father being locked up in jail, Kuhu (Kaveri Priyam) is the adopted daughter of
Shaurya (Samir Sharma) and Varsha (Pooja Joshi).

The sisters Mishti and Kuhu are like chalk and cheese. And their smooth
introduction in the show, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai made it easier for viewers
to accept and know more about them when the launch of Yeh Rishtey Hain
Pyaar Ke happened.

Mishti and Kuhu have a terrible rapport and cannot stand each other eye to eye.
When alone, they do not mince words when it comes to abusing and scolding the
other. However, when with their family, they behave as though they are too close
and inseperable.

The story started off at a very interesting pace with Ketki (Trishna Chaterjee),
niece of Meenakshi running away from home on the day of her engagement, as
she did not want to marry a guy who she has not met and known.
The sequences take us to the Kutch Rann Utsav wherein Mishti and Kuhu bump
into Ketki. The sequence where Mishti gives Ketki a piece of advice when it
comes to choosing her soul mate gets seen by Meenakshi and family on phone.
And this actually takes the story forward at a great rate.

Producer Rajan Shahi has the knack of adding a lot of relatability in the

characters and stories he says. And the same holds good for Yeh Rishtey

Hain Pyaar Ke

Though Meenakshi cannot see the girl’s face, she gets to see the ear-ring worn
by the girl who preaches Ketki. And this ear-ring becomes the centre of attraction
for many episodes to follow.

Every sequence involving Abir and Mishti has been a great watch, starting from
the scene over the bus, to the ones in the Rann Utsav green room. The scene
where Mishti talks to God and Abir answers her, and their interaction thereon are
simply fab!! Moving on, the Holi sequences, the scene where Abir catches hold of
Mishti after she steals money,…. well we can go on and on and the list is
endless. Exemplary picturization, we must say!!

In simple words, the two of them have mesmerized viewers every time they got
together for a scene, and the pattern continues even now.

The story now is crucially placed with the Maheshwaris assuming that the
alliance has come for Kuhu, but now on the other hand, it is Mishti who has been
hand-picked by Meenakshi for Kunal (as per the new promo).

What we like the best about Yeh Rishtey… so far is the pace at which the story
has moved on. There has not been a single scene which has been added just for
the sake of having it. A lot of thought has gone into every character that has been
introduced in the show.
Also, the chemistry and bonding between various relationships have been shown
in the best way possible. Abir and Kunal’s brotherly bonding has been top-notch.
The two of them light up every scene they are in.

Similarly, the rapport between Abir and his Nanu is brilliant. They are the scenes
that never fail to bring a smile on our faces.

Not to forget, the tashan between the mother Meenakshi and Abir!! Fabulously
portrayed, wherein one looks at edging past the other by way of dialogues.
Kudos to the writers here….

Kunal and Meenakshi have a very cute bonding. Meenakshi is certainly not a
negative character at all, and this is shown in the way she loves her son Kunal
unconditionally. However, Meenakshi cannot stand rebels and it will be nice to
see how rebellious her close ones get to be in future.

Coming to relationships, we have already spoken about how Mishti and Kuhu
manage to keep their family unaware of the negativity they have for each other.

Amidst all this, is the interconnect that Abir and Mishti have with respect to
missing their respective fathers. Abir’s father had left the family when he was a
child and this continues to hurt him even today. And this is the main reason why
he acts a sore thumb in front of his mother.

And for Mishti, her father left her never to return. And from then on, she has been
under the loving care of the Maheshwaris who have given her everything that she
needs in life.

However, Abir and Mishti have this lingering pain of losing their close ones. And
this connect between them has been very beautifully shown.

Coming to the actors, there cannot be any other actor playing Abir than Shaheer
Sheikh. He is so tailor-made for this role. His expressions are amazing, and he is
at absolute ease in his character. His smile actually weighs a million dollars, isn’t
it girls?

Ritvik Arora as Kunal Rajvansh is doing his job well. He is a charmer, a good
looker and his carrying out his role really well. His scenes with Shaheer are a
must-watch, and credit goes to Ritvik for performing with ease along with the
much experienced actor Shaheer.

Rhea Sharma is class-personified in her looks, expressions and acting. She has
a smooth flowing dialogue delivery which really impresses us. Again, she seems
effortless in her acting. She can do much better in the emotional scenes though,
as she is a very capable actor.

Kaveri Priyam as Kuhu seems to go over-the-top with her acting at times.

However, we also need to understand that Kuhu as a character is supposed to
be very bubbly, high on spirit and a non-stop talker. So guess we can say, Kaveri
though a newcomer, is doing her job well. She looks really gorgeous and we look
forward to seeing more of her emotions coming out as the character shapes up.

Rupal Patel is a class-act. You might see a lot of Koki (Saath Nibhana Saathiya)
in her even now, but that really shows how powerful she is in her performance
level. As Meenakshi, she is doing a marvellous job. We wait to see how layered
her character will go on to be. As of now, she looks manipulative, but to the lines
of wishing well for her family members. Let us see how it progresses.

Special mention goes to actors Deepak Gheewala (Nanu), Sanjeev Seth and
Lata Sabharwal (Maheshwaris).

Sangeeta Kapure, Sanjiv Jotangia, Chaitrali Gupte are performing really well,
and their characters have been etched well and are doing a good job.

Jay Pathak as Naman, Mishti’s father has had a lot of screen presence in the first
week and is doing a commendable j
EDITING TELEPRINTER COPIES:-

Sheila wants discoms to pay fine for power cuts

NEW DELHI: It seems, more trouble is heading for Anil
Ambani, who is embroiled in a tusslefor natural gas with his
brother. Chief minister Sheila Dikshit has directed
principal secretary(power) Rajendra Kumar to write to
Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC)
askingfor implementation of the clause to slap a fine on
discoms for power cuts.Dikshit informed the cabinet of the
decision during Monday's meeting. It was
unanimouslywelcomed by all ministers, said a source.Power
department sources say the move has been triggered by
persistent reports of powercutswhen there is no power
shortage in the city. The commission has been asked to
"investigate theattitude'' of discoms and impose "exemplary
penalties'' for unexplained and long power cuts.According
to sources, the CM, however, did not clarify in the cabinet
meeting what would bedeemed as a "long power cut''.The
ministers are believed to have told the CM that the
fact that some power cuts are
notunavoidable has been proved conclusively several
times as "names-dropping'' solves the problems. "It is
common experience that if an influential person calls or
approaches some senior discom official, the matter
is resolved within no time. Hence, it is obvious that
loadshedding isalso happening when there are other
options. This is not acceptable. Moreover, it is only
areasunder BSES which seem to have a perpetual problem, but
NDPL areas are doing fine. This againraises the suspicion about
the performance of the discom,'' said a source.Meanwhile,
DERC officials maintain that they have already initiated a
probe into the issue
of power crisis in June and what triggered the proble
m, hinting that penalising discoms for deficiency in
services was definitely not ruled out. The power regulator has
sought reports of allthe transactions in power purchase and
sale by all the three discoms during the crisis period
toassess whether the crisis could have been avoided."Details of
discoms' power transactions have been sought and sent to State
Load Dispatch Centre(SLDC) for verification. Only after this,
we will pass an order accordingly,'' said a senior official.Initial
investigation suggests that power was available and some
discoms were not willing to bidhigh to procure power.While
the decision to penalise discoms may bring some relief to
power-starved Delhiites, the powercuts are back since the
rains have stopped once more and the temperature is on
the rise.This is not the first time that something of this
nature has been discussed. Some time back, thestate cabinet
had proposed to slap a fine on discoms for unscheduled
powercuts, and the moneythus collected was to be handed
over to the affected consumers. The proposal was
welcomedunanimously, but it never saw the light of day,
leaving Delhi at the mercy of discoms
EDITING TELEPRINTER COPIES

2 held for burglary in judge's house

NEW DELHI: Two men were arrested for their alleged
involvement in the burglary in a sessionscourt judge's
house in Lodhi Colony area of south Delhi. The
accused Gopal (25) and Ganpat(24) hail from Sikar and
Ajmer in Rajasthan and were apprehended with stolen
goods worth Rs 2lakh, said the police."The duo was
involved in the burglary in the residence of C K
Chaturvedi, a sessions judge, onJuly 2 afternoon when
he was not at home. They had ransacked his house
and decamped withsome jewellery, besides his medal
and coins. They were involved in a number of burglary
cases,''said DCP (south) HGS Dhaliwal.During
investigations, it came to light that all the incidents
were reported from Block No 23 of Lodhi Colony
when the house owners were away. "The criminals had
precise information aboutthe movement of the house
owners. The team in plain clothes laid traps in Block
No 23 for several days which led to their arrests,'' an
official said.