Kahan
Shuru
Kahan
Khatam,
with
its
retro-inspired
title
song
and
background
score
just
tries
too
hard,
both
with
the
comedy
and
the
message,
observes
Deepa
Gahlot.
The
best
thing
about
Kahan
Shuru
Kahan
Khatam
is
its
running
time,
which
is
less
than
two
hours.
While
that
is
ideal
for
a
romcom,
this
one
looks
like
it
was
cobbled
together
from
a
first
draft
of
the
script.
Directed
by
Saurabh
Dasgupta,
written
by
Laxman
Utekar
and
Rishi
Virmani,
the
film
is
set
in
a
UP
town,
where
a
noisy
wedding
is
underway.
The
bride’s
father
(Rajesh
Sharma)
is
a
mafia
don,
so
the
guests
are,
a
voiceover
informs,
the
who’s
who
of
the
crime
world.
They
just
look
like
extras
dressed
in
second
hand
bling,
and
no
costume
changes
over
several
days!
Krish
(Aashim
Gulati)
crashes
into
this
melee,
and
even
shakes
a
leg
with
the
dancers,
who
have
been
placed
in
a
cage
to
keep
the
drunks
from
pawing
them.
For
Krishna,
getting
into
strangers’
weddings
is
a
hobby.
He
works
as
a
teacher,
which
probably
gives
him
the
confidence
to
control
unruly
crowds,
and,
when
the
need
arises,
make
feminist
speeches
in
a
place
where
the
big
‘beti
bachao
beti
padhao‘
billboard
is
just
for
show.
The
women
of
the
mansion
all
line
up
inside
with
faces
covered
in
ghoonghats.
The
men
swagger
around
flying
high-tech
drones.
The
bride
Meera
(Dhvani
Bhanushali),
educated
in
Australia
but
unable
to
prevent
an
arranged
marriage,
escapes
in
a
red
car,
right
when
someone
notices
the
stranger
running
about
in
the
haveli.
Krishna
gets
into
the
car
to
avoid
a
beating
or
worse,
and
seeing
them
zoom
off
together,
everybody
thinks
they
have
eloped.
Meera’s
father
gives
the
order
that
nobody
will
leave
the
wedding
venue
till
she
is
brought
back,
and
the
collection
of
gangsters
meekly
comply.
Meera’s
brothers
—
called
Gautam
and
Gambhir
to
get
a
couple
of
easy
laughs
—
and
a
loitering
thug
called
Baby
are
dispatched
to
chase
the
runaway
pair.
For
some
reason,
Krishna
has
two
gay
boys
living
in
his
house,
who
are
also
used
as
comic
relief,
because
there
aren’t
too
many
pegs
to
hang
humour
on
when
armed
goons
and
cops
are
in
pursuit.
In
Krishna’s
family
home
in
Barsana,
his
father
(Rakesh
Bedi)
is
a
mild-mannered
pandit,
but
his
mother
(Supriya
Pilgaonkar)
has
a
small
army
of
lathi-wielding
women.
There
is
also
a
tech-savvy
grandmother
around,
the
idea
being
to
contrast
the
two
cultures
in
the
same
region,
one
in
which
women
are
silenced,
and
the
other
in
which
they
are
strong
and
independent.
Incidentally,
Barsana
is
a
pilgrim
town,
famous
as
the
birthplace
of
Radha
and
its
unique
tradition
of
lathmaar
Holi,
when
women
are
permitted
to
thrash
the
men
on
that
one
day;
whether
the
women
go
about
with
lathis
all
the
time
is
debatable.
That
the
embedded
patriarchy
of
Meera’s
family
will
come
in
for
a
drubbing
is
inevitable.
All
it
takes
are
a
few
speeches
with
public
service
ad
kind
of
content,
and
the
men
are
reformed!
There
is
no
denying
that
in
many
pockets
of
India,
women
are
oppressed.
But
as
far
as
cinema
is
concerned,
the
messaging
has
gone
beyond
simplistic
sloganeering.
Utekar’s
own
films
like
Luka
Chuppi
and
Zara
Hatke
Zara
Bachke
have
crossed
the
basic
alphabet
of
progressivism.
The
actors
do
as
well
as
they
can
with
the
limited
material
at
hand.
There
is
no
stand
out
performance
here,
but
Aashim
Gulati
has
some
comic
chops,
which
will
possibly
be
sharpened
in
a
better
film.
Dhvani
Bhanushali
avoids
that
irritating
cuteness
that
actresses
put
on
for
romcoms,
but
she
could
have
played
Meera
with
a
less
severe
look.
Kahan
Shuru
Kahan
Khatam,
with
its
retro-inspired
title
song
and
background
score,
just
tries
too
hard,
both
with
the
comedy
and
the
message.
Kahan
Shuru
Kahan
Khatam
Review
Rediff
Rating:
