SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Jan van Steenbergen (ijzeren_jan) Krish, a biologist from National Geographic, is sent out to investigate the case of a killer tiger haunting the Indian jungle. On his way, he joins a group of youngsters who are out for adventure and some hunting. Deep in the jungle, they meet the mysterious Kali, who warns them to go back. Of course, they refuse, and the more they get lost, the more the plot thickens. For a horror flick from Bollywood, Kaal is not a bad movie at all. It is, in any case, way beyond the monsters-with-faces-like-pizzas kind of horror that used to dominate Bollywood in the 1980s and 1990s, and unlike horror flicks of the "who's next?" type, it keeps you focused from the beginning till the end, and at times really manages to surprise. Sure, there are things we always know in advance: if there are a few better known actors and a few unknown, we all know who is going to be eaten first. But that's a minor thing.Before watching Kaal, all I knew was that it was some sort of Indian "Jaws" with a tiger instead of a shark. And I am grateful for that, because otherwise the appearance of Kali, a mysterious inhabitant of the jungle, might have evoked the wrong kind of expectations. I for one found myself utterly surprised when he turned out to be the "bhoot", the ghost he had been telling about, himself. A fascinating character! What I like best about him is the fact that he never hurts anybody, on the contrary, he keeps warning everybody. Nobody dies because of Kali or a tiger. All those who die, die merely because of their own stupidity. They should have listened to Kali.The film has another huge asset: the excellent background score by the duo Salim-Sulaiman. That said, there are a few decisive minuses as well. First of all, the movie begins with a completely idiotic video clip featuring Shahrukh Khan in a wet shirt, which has nothing in common with the movie whatsoever. They might as well have filled the same space with a commercial, or, for that matter, with a black screen. Another weak point are the characters. Ajay Devgan does an excellent job as Kali, but the script fails to work out any of the other characters. Even calling them flat or cardboard would be too much, because frankly, there's no character in them at all. Vivek Oberoi manages best, but John Abraham fails to impress and especially the women (Lara Dutta and Esha Deol) serve no other purpose than being pretty and constantly afraid. This poor characterisation has a major disadvantage: you can't identify with the characters and never really care if someone dies or not. But all in all, the exciting plot makes up for this weakness. It didn't stop me at all from enjoying "Kaal".

apt1715 i cant really say anything except the fact that there is no point to this movie...there is no plot...all they do is get stuck in a wildlife park and try to get out...there really was no point in ajay devgan being in the movie. It seems that the director tried to make a thriller but there was no suspense. this guy is suppose to be a good director and the script is wrote was suppose to be a very interesting story....i think not...just because you have one of the biggest producer(Karan Johar) and actor (SRK)does not make you a wiz kid take a lesson from farhan akthar he truly was a whizkid. and next time try to at least entertain the audience

ChiBron I watched the 1st hour and just couldn't take anymore of this torture.Everything abt this movie stinks - Direction, Special Effects, Background score, Cinematography and especially THE ACTING!! Vivek's 'tough guy' act had me cracking up the entire time. "Cut the crap". Who in their right minds would think such a lame line could make anyone look cool or tough? Vivek's delivery only makes it worse. This Srk-wannabe needs to take a lengthy break. All of his performances post-Saathiya have stunk. Who decided to make him the guy with the 'attitude'? He's abt as intimidating as an ant in the 1st half. Can't believe how quickly his career has sunk after such a promising start. Moving on, John Abraham is probably the most expression-less actor I've seen in Bollywood. Should've stuck to modeling. The awkward looking guy who played 'Sajid' was even worse then those two....he talks like a girl. The Mickey Mouse dude('Mambo' from Ishq Vishq) seemed like the only one who could actually act.This sleeping pill deserves a 2/10. .5 each for the three sl*ts(Malaika, Esha & Lara) who did a decent job in the 2 songs. Esha and Lara also weren't too bad for a little comedy(albeit, unintentional comedy). So .5 for those two.

sandhirflora The hero of this film is Grrr.. And that too from Hollywood though he is making just a special appearance in one grand scene you get to know only when film is getting over but his Grrr… Grrr is there in background all through the film. Here, not just the tigers even the inspiration comes from Hollywood. This film is in the league of Indian horror "Ramu Classics"-Darna Mana Hai, Vaastu-Shastra etc so needless to say what is there in content, Here are some pearls of wisdom, which I tried to collect in the film considering theatre going audience are not bunch of fools who can be subjected to just about anything-(1) The sole purpose of Kaali (Ajay Devgan) is to kill all the friends then why in the first place he save them from tigers? (2) Krishh Thapar (John Abraham- save our Wildlife activist Valmik Thapar) is a guy from national geographic channel still he doesn't know that in national parks no one is suppose to smoke or even carry cigarettes. (3) Kaali, a tourist guide was killed by villagers and eaten by tigers in jungle, how come Krishh not aware about this incident when he is suppose to send to jungle by national geographic special for an important investigation purpose. (4) In the story, rains are already started still one finds all roads and roadways completely dry in the jungle. (5) How come forest officers are so casual that they can't frisk visitors and allow just anybody to go into a national park with a weapon? (6) How come there is no additional security at core areas in jungle where murders happened and yet area is allowed to be encroached by just anybody. (7) A wooden bridge over the river is loose yet when a guy tries to cross it by his jeep, all his friends remain seated in the jeep putting extra burden on the bridge, Enabling it to break down. A classic group of duds. (8) Look at Screen entry of Krishh, he chases and catches a python but when his cell phone rings he just drops him and let him loose, and gets busy on his phone (9) When Characters run away from well, it is dark. While they are running away in jungle there is sufficient sunlight. How come this miracle happened?On one hand, film talks about some vices of tourists and visitors at national park. On the other hand What a great way by our protagonists of glorifying this standard "Indian" practice of throwing cash to those poor cash-starved ones and get your way out, in just any matter? The two pretty gals, apart from showing their long legs and screaming at the drop of hat (they also happen to be love interest of our dear protagonists) I can't find a better example in recent times of portrayal of fairer sex in a most "balaji-regressive" manner. All this is not Kaal but "Akaal" of common sense. Dear producer duo, better to pull up your socks now otherwise the day is not far off when you will have to sing- "ye kaal kaal to kar gayi humein kangaal".