Karthik calling Karthik (Lalwani, 2010)

[sandeep]

Synopsis from bollywoodhungama.com

'Karthik Calling Karthik', is the story of a lovable loser Karthik, whose life changes with the help of someone who also claims to be Karthik. A thrilling, soulful and romantic journey of this man's victory against all odds.

Review

Karthik calling Karthik works on many levels, but has some fundamental flaws. Acting is superb by Farhan, while Deepika is purely the female lead, with persisting poor diction. Nice songs, but not needed in a thriller, this movie could have been shorter, tighter, more thrilling and less predictable.

2.5/5

[kaytee]

Yes the movie is predictable but I was really impressed. The production team of Excel Movies have churned out Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya, Rock On,  Luck by Chance, etc all unique projects and not your usual Bollywood fare. Karthik Calling Karthik is no different and here too the story is given more importance than songs or foreign locales.

People who watch English movies will see the "twist" coming from the start, but still the narration of the movie keeps it fresh. An introvert person called Karthik is bullied at every walk of life and can't seem to even muster up the courage to talk to the girl he likes. All this changes when he receives a call in the middle of the night from a person claiming that he is Karthik and he will help him change his life. So far it is pretty unique and the cliches start now boy gets confident, boy meets girl, sings and dances with her, they fall in love and then the problem arises and everything goes kaput. The 3rd act is again what saves this movie from being a failure, it completes the films and gives up all the answers and they are pretty believable.

Yes the editing could have been better, the couple of songs could be been done away with and the end could have been 5 mins prior, we didn't need to see that all is well in the end. The acting from Farhan Akhtar is sincere and natural, Deepika Padukone has a tremendous screen presence and she just lights up the scenes she is in.

Overall a really commendable movie from Bollywood standards and movies like these should be encouraged.