Story - Kambakkht Ishq

Kambakkht Ishq explores the relationship between two individuals as different from each other as chalk and cheese. No matter how many times they are pushed together, there are only fireworks... no fire. Viraj Shergill (Akshay Kumar) is a swashbuckling stuntman in Hollywood who lives by the mantra ''women are only good for two things... making love & making love'' Simrita Rai (Kareena Kapoor) is a firebrand who is more than able to stare down the most arrogant male with her caustic wit and sardonic tongue... he firm belief ''there's no such thing as love''.

So what happens when the two people who hate each other the most meet at Simrita's best friend Kamini's and Viraj's brother Lucky's wedding? ...a wedding that both Viraj and Simrita are violently opposed to and desperate to stop. Sparks fly, accidents occur, And both are thrown together in the most absurd, hilarious situation until one dramatic twist of fate binds the two together in a manner that they could have never ever even dreamed of in their wildest fantasies. The battle of the sexes in on. Who is going to throw the punches and who is going to blow the kisses?
 

Kambakkht Ishq Falls Short of Expectations
 

Kambakkht Ishq is the story of Viraj (Akshay), a Hollywood stunt man who doesn’t believe in marriage and lives by the belief that women are good for only two things. When he comes to know that his younger brother Lucky (Aftab) is getting married to Kamini (Amrita), he rushes to break it off. Also present there is Simrita (Kareena), Kamini’s best friend, who’s there to dissuade her from her from getting married to a ‘second hand’ person aka a stuntman. But then the couple have already made up their mind, leading to a war of words between the chauvinist Viraj and snooty Simrita. The reason why Simrita (who by the way is a medical student cum part time model) hates men is the examples she has seen in her own family. She therefore believes men are only interested in getting into a woman’s pants. Post this, fate has Viraj and Simrita bumping more into each other more often, doubling up their hate for each other. Meanwhile, Simrita’s stubbornness leads Lucky and Kamini to the brink of divorce. While Viraj tries to stop this divorce, Simrita is determined to see t happen. Things get more complicated when during Viraj’s operation, Simrita accidentally leaves her watch inside his stomach. What it all leads to forms the rest of the plot.

Kambakkht Ishq is no doubt one of the most lavish productions to come out of Bollywood. But, despite the involvement of four scriptwriters, film falls short of the expectations where the promised wholesome entertainment is concerned. The main problem being the wafer thin plot, then again some really bad jokes that fall flat and finally the second half. Also, many a times the thin line of acceptance has been crossed in the name of humour which makes it difficult watch for the family audience. The first half breezes through quickly but the second half slows down considerably. The serious turn taken though comes in with the flow of the film, it gets boring as you know it very well where it is all going to lead to. Though it is an applause worthy job by debutante director Sabbir Khan to helm a film as huge, you sorely miss a David Dhawan who would have controlled the lunatic moments more efficiently. To give due credit, ‘Hollywood’ has been well incorporated by Sabbir in the film. Though the Taurus awards sequence has been superbly picturised, the makers seem to be under the impression that award winners arrive first on stage followed by announcement of arrival of award presenters at prestigious international awards.

The film scores high in the technical department with cinematographer Vikas Sivaraman coming out on top. He has succeeded in imparting an international look. However, barring the Mangalam number, the music of the film is not worth talking about.

Akshay Kumar is back in terrific form as a performer. He is simply superb in his award acceptance speech. Kareena has never looked so hot before. She manages to put up her own against Akshay but is saddled by poor characterization, especially in the second half. Almost 80 percent of the time her character has been burdened with a permanent growl on the face. Amrita Arora is cute as her dim wit friend. Aftab is passable. Kirron Kher is getting irritatingly repetitive. Boman Irani in a single scene appearance is hilarious but Javed Jaffrey gets on your nerves and its high time he realises that his ‘punny’ jokes don’t work every time. Vindoo Dara Singh as the dumb assist of Akshay is mirthful. Amongst the Hollywood stars, Sylvester Stallone commands great screen presence but Denise Richards looks too old. That said, she does enact her part well.

Watching the promos and the huge hype the makers have managed to create about their film, your expectation levels are high when you enter. But as you come out, you do feel that it is nothing more than a dumb entertainer that takes  too much for granted. It may have  a great start at the box office but the crowds will vanish from Monday once the hype begins to settles down.