![]() I’m not sure if the costumes are true to the time period, but they look fabulous. Everything is big and glamorous, regardless of whether it makes sense. Then again, I don’t think authenticity was Varman’s goal with Kalank - especially not with Karan Johar financing the film. Bahaar Begum’s brothel is apparently so successful that she can afford to stack chandeliers atop one another, and Blacksmith Alley’s festival budget tops the production costs of most Bollywood films. Some settings do feel over-the-top for their location. The sets have a depth of field, and every rooftop and alleyway is populated with extras. ![]() ![]() The melodrama is enhanced by song numbers that are grand in scale and a delight to watch, especially when Madhuri Dixit takes the floor. It’s fun, if that’s the kind of story you’re in the mood for. Varman lays the melodrama on thick, with lots of longing looks, near-kisses, and simmering tensions between family members. Zafar neglects to mention that to Roop so that he can use her to take revenge against the family that abandoned him. There Roop meets Gendry, er, Zafar (Varun Dhawan): a hunky blacksmith who’s the unacknowledged bastard son of - you guessed it - Roop’s father-in-law, Balraj. In order to escape her stifling home life, Roop undertakes vocal music tuition from the famed courtesan Bahaar Begum (Madhuri Dixit) in a working-class Muslim neighborhood. Perhaps it’s because of the limitations of Dev’s nature, but Kapur’s one-note performance in the role is not one of his best. It’s unfortunate how small Sinha’s role in Kalank is given her prominence in the film’s marketing and the quality of her performance in her few scenes.ĭev tells Roop that he agreed to the marriage to make Satya happy, and that while he will never be mean to Roop, neither he will ever love her. Her illness progresses off-screen, and she and Roop have few interactions after their initial one. It would have been interesting to watch Roop and Satya negotiate their evolving roles in the household (as Bhatt’s character Sehmat did in Raazi) and learn more about nature of their tense preexisting relationship, but filmmaker Abhishek Varman sidelines Satya. The second marriage proceeds and Roop moves into the Chaudhry family mansion with Satya, Dev, and Dev’s stiff father, Balraj (Sanjay Dutt). Roop insists that she’ll only enter the home as Dev’s co-wife - a prudent move since Satya otherwise wouldn’t be around to make sure her wishes are carried out after death. Satya is dying from cancer, and she hopes Dev will marry Roop after Satya’s death. Her acquaintance Satya (Sonakshi Sinha) proposes a business arrangement: in exchange for funding dowries for Roop’s younger sisters, Roop will move in to Satya’s home and grow closer to Satya’s husband, Dev (Aditya Roy Kapur). Set just before Partition, the story follows Roop (Alia Bhatt), a young woman forced to integrate into a wealthy Hindu family living near Muslim-majority Lahore under unusual circumstances. Lavish sets, impressive dance numbers, and a gorgeous cast make it an enjoyable enough one-time watch, so long as you keep your attention at surface level. ![]() Kalank (“ Stigma“) is a middling extravaganza, neither as good nor as bad as it could have been.
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