LEKHA SHANKAR

                                                           ‘ KAI PO CHE ’

               Only Indian Film at the Berlin Festival, is a 'hit' with the critics, and the audiences.

It has an odd name ‘Kai Po Che’  ( a sports-slang meaning ‘Go for it!’  in the Gujarati language), but it’s  the most-talked-about movie in India, today.

It was the only Indian film to be selected  for the Berlin Festival, this year .

This was followed by its release in India ,leading to huge success with the critics- and the audience.

The  highly-respected  ‘Hindu’ newspaper  raved  ’ Go watch it.  Again and again.’

The famous ‘Amul’ dairy-company , noted for its  much-watched  ads,  created a  new advertisement  based on the film.

All this is unprecedented,  considering  that the film is a total non-Bollywood movie, with no big stars, sets, budget.

Infact, it has a brand-new cast , unique ,new  theme,  and is set in a little-known  rural town.

Credit for the story must go to  Chetan Bhagat, the most successful  writer of youthful fiction in India, whose book  ‘The Three Mistakes of my life’ contributed to the story  of this film.

Bhagat seems  to be obsessed with the numeral  ‘ Three’, and the super-hit  Bollywood movie 

 ‘3  Idiots’  was also based on a book of his.

Like that film, this one has three friends as the chief protagonists , although they are not big star-names .On the other hand, they are total newcomers. 

But it’s again a story of dreams, friendship, joys ,heartbreaks.

Unlike the former film,the author collaborated in the screenplay with the director.

Director Abhishek Kapoor is considered one of the exciting,new  talents to watch out for, after his debut film  ‘ Rock On’, created waves with its fresh theme, arresting style,  brilliant music.

‘ Kai Po Che’  has the same zippy style and rhythm.  But the story is more complex. It starts as a fun sports film about cricket, and suddenly morphs into a socio-political document about corruption, religious riots, earthquakes –all based on real incidents in India .

This  double- tone makes it difficult to define the genre of the film or its target audience, and  shows that  the new Bollywood cinema  is re-inventing and  re-defining itself .

The totally different  personalities of the three protagonists  seem to symbolizes the  complex psyche of the Indian nation. The director himself admitted  that this movie was more complex and difficult than his earlier one.

But he also admitted that he did not expect it be so successful , both at the box-office and the festival-circuit.

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