Karthik Calling Karthik - Movie Review
Published: November 16, 2011
Starring Farhan Akhtar, Deepika Padukone
A man who gets phone calls from himself telling him how to live his life—crazy, or is he? That's the mystery central to this psychological thriller—if you can call it that, because unlike the lead character, the film is unquestionably schizophrenic. As a thriller, it fails, because instead of taut, it's just stretched. The suspense is sapped by romance that dominates to such an extent that the film becomes mostly a love story—and a dull one. At times, it seems like the movie is trying to be a realistic study of a man who is the victim of bullying and who also may be mentally ill—which isn't a thrilling tack and a real downer where romance is concerned.
The title character is, however, ironically consistent—and well-portrayed by Farhan Akhtar. The film is a rare miss for the talented actor (Rock On!!, Luck By Chance, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara) and director (Dil Chahta Hai, Don), but Akhtar manages to showcase his range as Karthik evolves from pathetic loser to confident winner, while maintaining the character's vulnerable essence throughout.
Karthik is a smart, hard-working guy, who is too meek and insecure to assert himself, and everyone mistreats him—like his boss and co-workers—or ignores him—like the girl of his dreams, Shonali. He's painfully unhappy and lonely, and he sees a psychiatrist about his distress over his inadvertent role in the childhood death of his brother, who bullied him. When he can't take it anymore and decides to kill himself, he gets a nick-of-time phone call—from himself. The sinister-sounding Karthik on the line tells the suicidal Karthik what he needs to do to turn his life around. The advice is all Karthik needs to become the man he always wanted to be. He spruces up his appearance, gets a big promotion at work, and sabotages his married co-worker's affair with Shonali. In no time, Shonali falls for Karthik.
Shonali, played unremarkably by Deepika Padukone, isn't remotely interesting, and we learn little about her except that she has a nasty smoking habit and keeps getting burned in relationships. Their passionless courtship drags on and on, until you nearly forget about Karthik's creepy phone calls. But of course, the calls don't go away, and Karthik tries to rid himself of them. The outcome is not predictable, but not a zinger either, and by the time it rolls around, it feels more like a relief than a resolution.
Karthik Calling Karthik is rated Skip.
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