Times Revises Its Rating…We Stand Vindicated With Our Rating Of Ki & Ka

When I gave a thumbs-up rating to Balki’s Ki & Ka I got a lot of  finger-wagging coming from various quarters.

A filmmaker friend accused me of selling out. No no,don’t get him wrong. He wasn’t accusing me of taking money in exchange  of a favourable review. He just felt I was being generous to a film that ticked off all the right boxes in my head.

That , it did.Other critics were savagely austere in their rating, including  the revered Times Of India which gave the film 3 stars on Friday morning. Post the weekend when public opinion seemed to favour the film ,they bravely and unapologetically revised it to 4 stars.

Well, der aaye durust aaye.

Here is why I fell in love with Ki & Ka. It sparkled with a disarming energy as it put the man in what is traditionally considered a woman’s domain. The kitchen.When Arjun Kapoor sportingly wore the apron the critics in one voice called it gender stereotyping. But audiences don’t care for labels. They loved the crackling hissing snarky chemistry between the two Kapoors.

Indeed if Kareena Kapoor proves in Ki Aur Ka that she is in every sense, one of her kind, Arjun Kapoor comes into his own with a performance that controls his pent-up   energy much better than all his earlier films.

Balki gives his leads ample leeway to grow into a marriage of convenience. By the time the film ends we feel the change in the couple.

I came away cheering for Kiya and Kabir. They didn’t tell us about an ideal marriage.They told us about a marriage that survives all odds because the couple approaches the institution of marriage honestly.

Just the tone that Balki adopts to tell their tale. No punches pulled. No gimmicks.

Balki who is a dear friend,has done a terrific job. I want to know more about Kiya and Kabir’s marriage.Let’s have a sequel. Or better still, a television serial. To see where this marriage of a working woman and her house husband  goes. We know Kiya is petrified of pregnancy.Would she realize later that motherhood doesn’t end a woman’s career? Can she come to this state of nirvanic awareness without being accused of pandering to….

Gender stereotyping!!!