Film Review: ‘Kalank’

A visually stunning movie that brings this dramatic period piece to life

Taking place in Husnabad around the 1940s, “Kalank” is a period drama that stuns viewers with its visual magnificence.  The movie sets the stage early on.  Satya Chaudhry, the wife of a prominent newspaper editor, finds out that she has one year left to live due to cancer.  Her last dying wish is that a free spirited woman, Roop (Alia Bhatt), would marry her husband and take care of him when she is gone.  Roop is reluctant to fulfill this task but ultimately agrees knowing that her and her family will be well taken care of.  She goes off to Husnabad and marries the editor, Dev.  But throughout the early stages of their marriage, both Dev and Roop refuse to get to know each other, both coming from an understanding that the marriage was not something either of them wanted to do.  Roop, feeling very neglected, spends most of her time at another part of town, and sets her interested in a womanizing blacksmith named Zafar.  The story then sets its sights on how this scandalous relationship between Roop and Zafar ends up destroying the lives of everyone around them.

“Kalank” is a visually stunning movie that raises the bar for a lot of other Bollywood movies.  What sets this movie apart from the rest is the grandeur and magnificence of the visuals.  The movie does a fantastic job of creating a world and making sure every little detail was right.  What impressed me most as the viewer were the sets and how lux everything looked.  One of the hardest things to do in period pieces like this is to sell to the audience that they are looking at the period you are portraying.  And the direction and editing of this movie added a lot of value to the overall film.

The biggest drawback for this movie was the plot.  In this, the plot concept was interesting and somewhat fresh compared to the cookie cutter movie that gets churned out all the time.  The idea of having this scandalous relationship affect everyone around them seems appealing.  The one issue was that the plot in itself was not as developed as it could have been.  The acting in this movie was great, but the character development seemed lacking in some cases.  Roop, for the most part, acted very brooding and dissatisfied.  Understanding that the events around her enforce this behavior, there seemed to be a lack of full depth and exploration to this character, along with many others.

Overall, “Kalank” is a visually stunning film with a plot that could have taken some more time to develop.