User reviews

There was a time when just an announcement of a Subhash Ghai film used to be the hottest news in the distribution circle and the brand name of Mukta Arts was considered to be the guarantee of at least a decent earner at the box office in all possibilities. Actors sincerely wished to be a part of the banner in any way and people waited for the project not because of any known star-cast but for the director alone and his melodious chartbuster music incorporated intelligently. The euphoria was at its peak in the decade of 80s and the early 90s. And even the title saying 'Written, Edited and Directed by Subhash Ghai' used to receive a huge applause in the theater along with the famous 5 second cameo of the director as his trademark feature. Due to the long string of successes, Ghai was popularly called "The Showman" and he did come up with many worth watching entertaining gems based on distinctive subjects one after another.

So having lived that era personally, its not easy to watch films like KAANCHI coming from the same man who gave us VIDHAATA, KARMA, RAM LAKHAN, SAUDAGAR and more. In fact it's extremely painful to see such mediocre work from the maestro not offering anything novel in its concept, storyline, performances, execution and (surprisingly) music too. In other words, its nothing less than a shock for a die-hard fan like myself, who grew up watching Subhash Ghai's films so joyfully and therefore really struggling hard here and not able to find words to write a critical description of this film, but would still try.

KAANCHI begins as a plain, ordinary project and keep progressing at the same level like just another love story of a carefree, strong girl (with some avoidable songs) until a powerful twist is there before intermission. The sudden sequence raises your expectations right away and one awaits some great explosive confrontation scenes coming up next. But what is presented before the audience post intermission says nothing, addresses nothing (as a message) and makes no impact of any kind on the viewer sitting in a confused state helplessly. Further, its final hour goes from the level of below average to absurd and then the film ends without making any connect with the audience despite having performers such as Mithun Chakraborty and Rishi Kapoor (playing a ridiculous role).

Presented with a new audio technology, which did sound a little better than the rest of the movies I saw on the same day, KAANCHI has a kind of soundtrack which seems to be trying too hard but reaches nowhere, except the title song to some extent. And that isn't what we have been associating with a Subhash Ghai movie frankly, certainly not the songs like "Kambal Ke Neeche" & "Tu Mustanda Tu Sexy, Tu Chalti Phirti Taxi". Cinematography captures some beautiful locations well but background score doesn't make any major contribution to the film missing all the energy of a Ghai film.

In the performances, Mishti looks beautiful with the mixed features of Aishwarya, Rani Mukherjee or Mahima and tries her best to give a noticeable performance. But the bizarre sequences post intermission, don't let her do so and same goes for the supporting cast including Kartik Aaryan, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Adil Hussain and Rishabh Sinha. Mita Vashisht is weirdly wasted in only a few scenes and Mahima Chaudhary looks like a vamp making a dancing cameo.

Coming to the two veterans in KAANCHI namely Mithun Chakraborty and Rishi Kapoor, they both made me think that its fine for all the other fresh actors working in a Subhash Ghai film, as they have never lived that majestic era of the showman themselves and have just heard about it from the media. But what would have been there in the mind of Mithun Da and Rishi Kapoor enacting all those highly weird or rather foolish scenes in the direction of the same Subhash Ghai, who was once one of the most successful directors of the industry in those past decades. Particularly Rishi Kapoor, who had earlier acted in KARZ, having such a fantastic music and an engrossing story progression.

However, thinking about KAANCHI, I would not like to blame Subhash Ghai alone for these repeated debacles. Because film-making is not a one man's job and its actually a team work which collectively results in some fabulous projects after a lot of hard work and brainstorming. Now if Subhash Ghai is not able to create the same magic repeatedly in the recent years, then the first major reason for this failure remains the absence of the same team members, who used to contribute immensely in his projects without any slightest of doubt. Second, it is probably due to the presence of all 'Yes-man'functioning around the maestro at the present, coming up with no objections at all to his unacceptable scripts and its strange sequences. And as they say, if there are no confrontations there in a creative team then the end product is bound to become quite weak, out of date and even pathetic, unarguably.

Therefore just skip meeting this KAANCHI in the theaters and pray that the master filmmaker soon gets back in form, finding a new talented creative team in the coming years. Speaking from the heart, we have already lost a RGV and don't wish to lose a Ghai too…..in the waves of the changing times.

The Showman of the 80's & 90's, Subhash Ghai, delivers a rather ordinary film with 'Kaanchi'. Though Ghai manages to churn out impressive performances & even a fairly engaging first-hour, he fails by delivering a dull second-hour, which completely under-whelms.

'Kaanchi' Synopsis: A rebellious girl seeks revenge of her lover's death, but faces opposition from a strong political family.

'Kaanchi' begins well & has a few sparkling moments in the first-hour. The romance is nicely build-up. The second-hour is problematic. The track involving Rishi Kapoor falling for Mishti, the protagonist, is plain ridiculous. Also, the excessive running-time over a 145-minutes, needed some sharp trimming.

Ghai is not in command this time around. His Direction, though lavish, has an outdated vibe to it. The Screenplay loses pace in the second-hour completely. Cinematography is good. Editing needed to be sharper. Music by Ismail Darbar is super.

Performance-Wise: Mishti as Kaanchi, has the intensity & the fire, this character demands. However, she needs to work strongly on her voice. Kartik does a decent job. Rishi Kapoor, in an ill-written role, is over-the-top. Mithun Chakraborty is excellent as the wicked politician. Chandan Roy Sanyal is effortless. Rishabh Sinha is impressive.

On the whole, 'Kaanchi' is an half-baked effort from Subhash Ghai.

Director approach towards film is completely confusing. Sometimes he tries to make it love story then takes turn to political drama then revenge and eventually landed in a mess. Story has nothing new. It is typical like old movie. Screenplay is jerky. They tried to stuff comedy in emotional scenes. A mother slaps her daughter for her rebelling nature but massages her feet in night, while she is sleeping. This scene has an emotional note but suddenly daughter awakes and in lieu of adoring her mother's care, she starts laughing. Was she mad or mentally challenged to understand such type of basic human emotions? Characterization is bad. Few scenes are so old fashioned. A boy died and his father melodramatically calls him to respond. The days are gone of such scenes. A romantic intense scene is going on and suddenly some girls appear from nowhere and start giggling, this way they just crush the romance. In a scene, girl is shown with a water bottle but in next voice over about her informs that she has been roaming hungry and thirsty. They deliberately ignored such type of mistakes or even they were unable to figure it out? Second half of film is very boring and climax is unbearable. Performance wise Kartik Tiwari as Binda is OK. Lead girl Mishti as Kaanchi looks good as well as act but she literally shrieks in intense scenes. Mithun Da had given plump face look, which does not suit him at all and it was not required even. Rishi Kapoor is fine. Chandan Roy Sanyal as Inspector Bagula is fantastic. His acting is an only relief in this film. Music is OK. Track of fast song are good but lyrics does not support it well.

Kaanchi review:

Dear Subhash Ghai Sir,

I write my review in form of an open letter to you only for the nostalgic feel of your past blockbusters (Karz, Meri Jung, Ram Lakhan and Saudagar are my personal faves) I have grown up on.

Moving on to your latest offering, sorry Sir but Kaanchi is a sitting duck. The plot somewhat reminiscent of 1985 Raj Kapoor film 'Ram Teri Ganga Maili' (minus the waterfall scene) is totally outdated in 2014. Sirji, you should enrol your new find Mishti in your own acting school pronto. And pray, how could you get veterans like Rishi Kapoor and Mithunda to ham so outrageously? The new boy Karthik Aaryan has no role to speak of while Chandan Roy Sanyal is made to imitate Anil Kapoor's Lakhan.

As your ardent fan, I can tell you sir that though Kaanchi will fail, you should not. Please take your time and come back recharged with an entertainer which will equal, if not better ur past glory. With this hope, I end my open letter cum review sirji, still ilu ilu.

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

I am a huge movie buff and I can sit through any movie. I usually find the silver lining in any crap movie. I am a big movie analyst. But this film left me zapped. It offers nothing. Poorly acted, same old concept of revenge. Famous actors given filthy roles. Dialogue is pathetic. Did not expect this from Subhash Ghai

By far, Subhash Ghai's worst movie. Very poor story and screenplay. Performances of seasoned actors like Rishi Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty very average. The lead actress Mishti brought down the entire movie - very poor actress, below average in looks; dialogue delivery extremely poor. What was Subhash Ghai thinking when he casted her. Not sure if people will cast her in sitcoms. One of the bigbest mistakes in careers of Kartik Aryan, Rishi Kapoor and Mithun Chakraborty. No wonder the movie was a washout in theatres.

The struggle of a girl against "the system". When her beloved husband to be is killed by a wealthy suitor, Kaanchi refuses to simply accept it and move on with her life. Despite her family's pledge to not fight she, convinces everyone se is dead and begins her struggle against the corrupt system.

This film deals with an age old issue that is still prevalent in some cultures today. If you are rich and influential it makes you above the law. If you like a girl, you can have her and if her heart is won over by someone else you just kill him.

Kaanchi might appear as a hopeless and helpless poor girl but she will not take a no for an answer. The system is manmade and men can fall. Losing the man she loved, meant that she has nothing to live for and therefore nothing to lose.

It is rather unfortunate when a powerful story and moral is not conveyed in the right light on the big screen. The presence of tension is somehow subdued by way of prevalence of a rather shallow acting and plot development, minus the leading lady, of course.

Subhash Ghai is back with his film making style. I admire his sense of observation & the way he perceives the situation and the characters in this movie. He portrays the nature beautifully and the feel of the movie is simply superb You really empathize with the characters...In this era of the new age directors, Mr. Ghai follows his own sense of direction which is amazing.I really love his style of film making.

Mishti's debut performance is very good and Kartik too seems to have good work yet again. There on screen chemistry looks really good.The story line is really involving. This movie is surely worth watching. Great work by Mr. Subhash Ghai yet again.

I am so glad I went to see this movie... A great story of true Love caught up in corruption and politics, with a real message to the young that is trying to put out a message to them to revolt against the SYSTEM of corruption, and all with a cracking cast to boot. The first half of the movie is set in a beautiful village in Nainital, where you would expect the locals to tow the line when corrupt land developers come into town. Here you see Rishi Kapoor introduced and as always has a presence you always love to be a part of. To me Rishi in whatever he does is like seeing and an old friend and I often think why can't we see more of him on screen, so I can revisit that old friendship again. He shows his enjoyable quirky nature and timing, even on subtle levels that show how seasoned he is. A supreme performer. Well his son(Rishabh Sinha) falls in love with a local woman Kaanchi(Mishti) that has her true heart on a local boy(Kartik Tiwari), she has grown up with. Here Kaanchi's love is tested but her real heart comes through in the end. As usual Bollywood comes through with great love scenes that only they know best how to do. Hollywood obscure approach to Love never seems to come close these days. However his OBSESSION takes over and because he can't get what he wants decides on the unspeakable. Here the movie comes to the point of the story where the law, news media, politicians who are driven by a corrupt SYSTEM fall over and cover up. Even families are resigned to the fact of what can we do to change and seek justice.

Well they have met there match with Kaanchi, who won't give in and decide to try to set things right. At this point let me say with fervor how enjoyable is it to see Mishti on screen. Mishti is personality PLUS and every scene of her on screen is like a magnet pulling you into her magic. The only other actress with this pull to me is Rani and if you want to feel that world that transcends acting then this movie will be a breath of fresh air for you.

After the INTERMISSION the second half of the movie doesn't disappoint, we find ourselves in MUMBHAI and Kaanchi cleverly infiltrates the dangerous and sleazy world of corruption at all levels and stops at nothing to expose the world of Corruption. This story has impact on many levels and her determination as a woman to achieve what everyone else decides to give up is inspirational. The scene of Kaanchi's mother coming to try and convince her to return to the village, but again being refused shows emotionally how deep her determination had to go to achieve success in the end. Again I am glad I did see this movie, and all in all a great movie. Highly Recommended.

Great movie. Brave girl story . Girl from uttarakhand village background fight with corrupt politician , corrupt systum, corrupt business man . Finally won her village field . Very interesting story.

The showman re-creates his magic of powerful cinema again. But this time with issue of women-empowerment.

Beautifully captured scenes.

Songs, especially Tu Hi Sab Kuch Re are melodious.

Debut performances are excellent. Mishti's varied spectrum of acting is just worth applauds.

Chandan Roy Sanyal again shines and its good that he gets a meaty role especially in 2nd half, almost of a 2nd lead.

Rishi Kapoor and Mithun are decent. Rishi Kapoor is uninhibited in his Vijay Mallya inspired corrupt businessman character. Mithun Chakrobarthy again shines. Beautiful cinematography. Crisp editing.

Worth watching for sake of old times!

As a woman and sometimes feeling the need to gain that all too often missing feeling of confidence, especially with so many men trying to control and dismiss me, this movie helps to reassert and give confidence back, especially the performance of the Kaanchi, who is played newcomer actress Mishti. I won't go into the details of the story so much and other actors as this movie importantly for me goes beyond the story and shows that a woman can if willing make a difference where it counts. Lets be honest here, for too long half the population of women are taken for granted, patronized and only given credence when it is in the interests of men. Kaanchi for me expresses some kind of example of hope that change not just for the world of injustices to us all, but to women can be addressed. It is important for me that each generation feel like they are on the cusp of a revolution so go and see Kaanchi and do it without the need for anyone else's permission. Thoroughly entertaining.