AK vs AK movie review

 

AK vs AK, director Vikramaditya Motwane’s fifth feature film, belongs to the genre of meta cinema wherein a film within a film is being shot. It is touted as an experimental film, but anyone even remotely familiar with Motwane’s filmography will attest to the fact that every single film of his has been experimental in many ways. After debuting with Udaan (a film which shaped my cinematic sensibilities; some of you reading this are already aware of my obsession with it :P) he was labelled as an Indie filmmaker. Not a wrong assumption given that the film was bankrolled by the pioneer of independent cinema in India (Hint: He’s one of the AK’s in the title :P). But then he came up with the poetic beauty Lootera, which revealed his predisposition to the captivating use of color, sound and imagery to create a film brimming with purity. His third film, Trapped, was a survival drama about a man locked up in own house and left without the basic needs of food and water. Unlike its title, the film was a liberating experience that left many of his fans struggling to give a name to his style of filmmaking. Post Trapped, Motwane was like “I wanna make a superhero film” and Boom! Bhavesh Joshi swoops in to give us our own Avenger. Although the film did not do well at the box office (sadly not unlike his other films) and wasn’t as critically acclaimed either since it was a victim of bad timing of release, it wasn’t his direction at fault because the story itself could have been so much better. Oftentimes we hear people saying “the film had his/her stamp all over it”….that just doesn’t apply to Motwane. The guy changes his ink pad with every film!!!

Anyway, my apologies for the long eulogy :P. Let’s talk about AK vs AK, his latest tryst with experimental filmmaking. If you’ve seen the trailer, you already know the basic plot: In an attempt to set a new standard of filmmaking, a critically acclaimed director (Anurag Kashyap) kidnaps the daughter of a superstar (Anil Kapoor) and films his search in real time. This makes for a fascinating plot and Motwane & team (what an audacious premise by Avinash Sampath!!) handle the proceedings deftly by positioning it as a cat and mouse chase thriller; the only difference being that the cat and mouse both are running alongside each other. In this intense battle between an actor and a director both Anil and Anurag dive into this dark world no holds barred, sportingly playing exaggerated version of their real selves.

There’s a lot of pleasure to be derived through all the inside jokes targeted at their careers and family members and the inventiveness of filmmaking is made clear by fact that the makers use this humor to actually build the tension and sustain the pressure cooker urgency throughout. In the hands of a less competent director, the film would have crushed under needless desire to assign more importance to technicalities of camerawork and gratuitous cameos at the cost of entertainment. Another reason why the film works is because Mumbai is weaved into the script as an indispensable character. In one of the film’s best scenes, Anil, wounded and helpless, has to nevertheless perform for a crowd gathered at a procession at their request. After all, he is a fan-made superstar and catering to his fans is his only responsibility as an actor. Pure Genius!

I am going with 3.5/5 for AK vs AK. The minor inconsistencies in the pacing & climax aside and the fact that it does have a limited scope to engage, the film offers an experience you’ve never had before and will surely not in a long time to come. Don’t miss it!

(Warning: The other release this week is Coolie No. 1. If AK vs AK is a battle of an actor and director, Coolie No.1 is the battle of David Dhawan and Logic. The choice is yours! :P)