In Which, Contrary to All Expectations, I Loved Kalank

I'll be honest, some of those expectations were my own from the first few minutes of the movie. Everything seemed so overwrought and overblown that it seemed entirely unlikely to contain real emotion. Even Zafar & Roop's meeting seemed empty and oversold. The sets, especially in the picturisation of ‘Ghar More Pardesiya’, were emblematic of this opening tone: entirely effing Too. Much.

But somewhere, that changed. Zafar and Roop's relationship drew me in; I was invested. Things toned down, became more real. There were many interesting, interlocked, stories going on: Abdul's politics; Zafar’s origins and what he initially wants with Roop; Satya and her mad scheme. Most importantly, they all weaved together in an organic fashion, all the way to the very end, where Zafar becomes the victim of his machinations.

The movie ends up saying so much about so many things: love, hate, revenge, marriage, illegitimacy, privilege, death. Fundamentally, it seemed to me a discussion, an exploration, of who (in this lens of legitimate versus illegitimate son) gets what: love, status, happiness. And it goes with unrelenting honesty into each of the tangled relationships, reaching across generations. We see the effect Balraj has on Dev, on Roop, on Bahaar, on Zafar; how Satya affects Dev, Roop, Zafar, and even Balraj; how Zafar affects Dev and Bahaar and Balraj.

The script is not without its weak moments: Zafar & Dev screaming on Eid; the endless stretching out of the train scene; the utterly god-awful bull-fighting scene. But they are far outweighed by the heart-breakingly real ones, infused with weight that attached to me: Bahaar pleading with Zafar to leave Roop alone; Zafar and Roop's wordless exchange in the rain; Roop confessing to Dev over breakfast. How often, for example, do you see a daughter-in-law argue with her father-in-law, on behalf of another woman … and win? Or where the cheap shot would have been to make a secret of Zafar’s origins, Kalank is up-front with them, making instead the big reveal Zafar’s use of Abdul for his personal vendetta. Or setting up a Newland Archer-like dilemma for a woman, and achieving it in a subtle, honest manner.

The plot, too, felt like the inevitable push and pull of human action. That Roop could not have met Zafar if she weren’t married. That Zafar’s ill intentions towards Roop is what leads him to fall in love with her. That if he hadn’t boasted about these ill intentions to Bahaar in the first place, she could not have spiked Roop’s very well-founded hope that Zafar does actually love her. That Zafar’s bitterness and Satya’s misguided sense of responsibility set wheels in motion, then leave the other characters to live a whole life with the consequences.

Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt light up the screen again. I know Deepika-Ranveer are Bollywood's sweethearts; I don't get it. Varun and Alia are individually much better actors and together have heaps more chemistry on screen. They've both come a long way from Student of the Year (which is a god-awful movie that no one should subject themselves to).

All in all, Kalank was not just satisfying, it was honest and real to the extent of leaving me quite raw at the end. I suspect it will become a personal palate-cleanser for those moments when fridging or scripts that go off the rails or perhaps just life in general becomes frustrating.

In short: extremely underrated; much to love; go watch.