It's interesting to see so many people so eagerly anticipating Krrish. It releases a week before Superman Returns and with X-Men 3 still in theaters, how can a discerning audience possibly expect a Bollywood superhero film match those 200 million dollar plus budgets and infinitely doctored scripts of Hollywood in terms of anything - adrenalin, razzamatazz and general tamasha? Rakesh Roshan forays into territories unmarked by Bollywood to achieve the impossible: creating a cocktail of song and dance, typical sentimental family equations, drama and comedy with an Indian superhero prancing atop Singaporean skyscrapers at the heart of it. Does it work? Ah, well...

The trick here is to see Krrish as a kids' film. Once that mindset is established, it's easier to digest. The film has a tiresome start and labors its way through the first half. There is simply too much time spent establishing characters, references, and situations. The direction is uninspired and boring. You see Krrish's superpowers in bits and pieces but the Tarzan treatment (set in idyllic Manali) doesn't work at all and fails to create any excitement. Okay, so he hops around a bit and knows a few birdcalls, big deal, give me a fight! Priyanka Chopra falling from the sky into Hrithik Roshan's arms is so naïve at the script level that you promise yourself to replenish your drink during the next song. Teasing the audience with his super powers is one thing (ie. when they are used for no real purpose and without any responsibility) but showcasing them ineffectively is another. The ghost story track at the camp, the endless breakouts into songs in the same location, the constant close-up of Hrithik's foot every time he hops is cyclic and pointless. The only elements that you carry forward from the first half to the second are those you can tell from the poster alone - Priyanka is the love interest, Krrish can hop, and product placement is the only way these films will get financed in the future. By interval time, you're wondering what the hype and the 1050 print release were about.

The second half starts cautiously, with only a semblance of a plot taking shape. This is unfortunate, because no matter what your film is about, a definite plot with a beginning (which should be at the start of the movie, not halfway through), middle, and end is key. Here, we have a wafer thin narrative - involving Naseeruddin Shah and a ludicrous future-foretelling computer - banking on one major twist in the tale which regular Bollywood fans will easily anticipate anyway. The plot doesn't come into being until the last twenty minutes of the film, with an additional 10 minutes scattered all over. Basically, it's all baloney and strictly for kids, so there is no point analyzing it.

Okay, let's take a break from the censure (be assured of resumption) - what does work for the film is the fact that you really do want to see the action sequences and Krrish beating up the baddies. Krrish's birth at the circus is a commendable start to the real action, and is followed up by at least 4 more similar beat-the-baddies situations in quick succession, to make up for the extreme boredom that Rakesh Roshan has put you through so far. Eventually, Krrish chases a helicopter by running, jumping, sliding, and swimming (and which gets to be a bit much) for a final showdown with Lex Luth... er... Dr Arya. And despite the crystal ball of a computer giving away the obvious end well before it happens, you're primarily interested in the 'how' rather than the 'what.' And that is the critical element at the heart of any superhero film, isn't it? All you want is to move away from the drama (and the damnable songs in this case) and cut to the chase. (Of course, good superhero films make the drama count and not distract.) And because the effects aren't as tacky as you'd expect them to be - even though almost all of it is inspired from some place or the other such as the treetop skimming from Crouching Tiger, the flips from The Matrix, and even the mask from Catwoman, and even though you can tell where and when the actors have been green-screened: it really is cool to see Bollywood's own Hrithik Roshan doing all of this.

The creative departments have definitely saved everything for the second half. There are a couple of nice moments amidst the tackily constructed scene settings, like the absence of background music in a 'revelation' scene (when Hrithik is packing to leave and Priyanka learns of his superhero identity, and he of her mendacious ways) and a 70s-style framing treatment. An ode to the retro. Hopefully. Some thought has also been given to the creation of the character that is Krrish, his running in the air while leaping is tacky but at least original. His ability to absorb information and reproduce it instantaneously comes across nicely and is used effectively. His clothes are rather bad though. And once in a while, he comes up with powers not established hitherto, which is taking liberties and is uncalled for.

The music, song and dance routine in this film is awful. Choreography, especially in the first half is reminiscent of lame pelicans and none of the tunes stay in your head. In the second half (when the entire crew seems to have woken up) there is some visual justice done in the picturization of Koi Tumsa Nahi, which is essentially a moving picture postcard of Singapore and to a certain extent Dil Na Diya, to which Hrithik moves spectacularly. Priyanka Chopra gets away with her poor dancing skills because, after all, it'd be unfair to expect her to match steps with a superhero. All in all, the songs are one piece of the Bollywood jigsaw that doesn't fit in with this film.

Priayanka Chopra's performance is laughable. Her character has little depth and not properly defined to begin with. She is supposed to be naïve, greedy, very badly dressed, and hell bent on reclaiming her job at the cost of ruining her love. It's a role that makes no sense and the performance is so amateur that she almost makes the minor characters look good (when they're not). For instance, Manini De, who is her usual self and completely over the top with her body language and dialogue delivery, makes Chopra look relatively calm and composed. Rekha is nowhere close to as versatile she can be and is too stiff and basically adds nothing to the film as Krrish's over-protective grandmother. Naseer, defeated by dialogue, is unable to conjure any kind of performance. In fact, the 'Breaking News' bits get on your nerves too soon..

Hrithik Roshan, however, gives this film everything . Clearly this is a role he has worked very hard for, well aware that it is his levels of energy, passion, and commitment that will make or break this film, even more than director-daddy. And truly, there isn't any other star in Bollywood who could've pulled this off. All in all, this is a film that kids will enjoy to the hilt, but adults will accept with a pinch of salt. It opens up a niche for fantasy in Bollywood and, I suppose, has the best effects ever seen in a Hindi movie. Yet, weaknesses stemming from poor, repititive scripting, sluggish direction, a rotten first half, and well below average support performances make this a mediocre film.

One must add a little about the product placement in the film. And no, it's not about how in your face the Bournvita or Lays or Tide or Halls and whatever other minor brands were present. It's about the two main brands - Star TV and Singapore Tourism. Rakesh Roshan has made real suckers out of them for sure. Singapore is readily portrayed as a place where you get robbed the moment you step out of the airport, where crappy TV shows are made, where biker gangs abound and smash you to pulp publicly, begging is common, circus safety is compromised, celebrities are easily murdered in daylight, and megalomaniacs own islands full of nefarious activities. It's also hilarious to see Star depicted as run by psychotic bosses like Archana Puran Singh ready to compromise all morals for the sake of TRPs and employ the likes of Priya and Honey as EPs who would stoop to equally low levels. Ha ha. These two entities must've paid through their noses for their brand presence in the movie. And for this treatment alone, well done Mr Roshan!