Reality or fiction?
Film: Ak v/s AK
Director: Vikramaditya Motwane
Writer: Avinash Sampath
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Anurag Kashyap
Ratings: 2 stars
AK v/s AK as the title suggests is about a conflict between actor Anil Kapoor and director Anurag Kashyap. Kashyap provokes Anil Kapoor at a public event resulting in a bitterspat between the two, after which Kapoor blocks Kashyap on his phone. Still angry, a scorned Kashyap lands up at Kapoor’s shooting unannounced bad news for the actor that his daughter Sonam Kapoor is kidnapped and he has only 12 hours to find her.
The plan is that while Kapoor searches for his daughter, Kashyap follows the actor with a rolling camera, it is his opportunity to feature the actor in his home-made film. Sounds bizarre but well that’s the director’s idea of a black comedy thriller.
A few weeks before the release of the film, the Indian Airforce has accused Anil Kapoor of disrespecting the uniform in the trailer of the film and Kapoor had to apologize and make amends for Netflix but the controversy mysteriously settled down a few days before the release of the film and detractors allege that the defamation was a publicity stunt for the film.
There’s a possibility that the allegations are true, after all we are living in artificial times where artistes are willing to become part of marketing gimmicks.
In times like these is relevant to revisit intimate story telling in its purest forms, for instance like bio-pics which is a life-scape of a celebrity and a format we are familiar with or even a docudrama which is a recap of real events taking some creative liberties. In AK v/s AK however, director Vikramaditya Motwane introduces us to a new format which dissolves the lines between reality and fiction. He would like us to believe that everything that occurs on screen is spontaneous and impromptu while the fact is, everything that happens is scripted!
So, let me segregate what is real and what is fiction – the characters- both Anil and Anurag are obviously real, their respective families, their homes, their careers, their career histories, their association, interpersonal relationship also to an extent is real. What is fiction is the narrative, where Anurag blackmails Anil Kapoor and why Anil Kapoor allows himself to be manipulated is a mystery that will only resolve after you have watched the film.
The positives are the challenges of the new experiment and Anil Kapoor’s super natural performance. The negatives arethat the film is unconvincing, unengaging and terribly self-indulgent. There is no way you can watch this film with your family because every dialogue is laced with choiciest abuses in English and Hindi and the duo don’t let off an opportunity to break each other’s bones. So, must you watch AK v/s AKwell, only if you are a fan of either or both the AKs.
Bhawana Somaaya