One of the worst calamities to have hit the region, the 2013 Uttarakhand floods had more than 4000 people dead and more than 70000 people missing. ‘Kedarnath’ releases this week which has a backdrop of these massive floods to have hit the pious place. The trailer looked promising, does the movie live up to the hype or does it just sink….lets find out. 

Kedarnath is a love story set against the backdrop of the catastrophe that struck the region. Yes, the story is a one liner which also touches base with a few topics of religion, belief and the environment sparingly in its narrative. While the story lacks novelty, its treatment is quite fresh. The screenplay is a bit sketchy. While the first half has a good build up amidst the love story blooming, the writers enroute a cliched melodramatic plot in the second half which seems to get a bit stale before picking up in an exhilarating 20 minute climax when the floods hit the region. You find yourself glued to your seat in a nail biter of a finale, wanting more of it. The climax should have been a bit more flesh out, for me the movie was atleast 15 minutes short of its runtime! The music by Amit Trivedi is outstanding and one of the strongest points of the movie. The cinematography is excellent and the breath taking locales of Kedarnath are expertly shot. Director Abhishek Kapoor has done a decent job although his incohesive narration(like in his other films too!) comes back to haunt him. 

Sushant Singh Rajput starts of slowly but slowly shifts gears as his character progresses. Decent job done! Sara Ali Khan(who looks just like her mother and gorgeous too if I may add), the debutant, has terrific screen presence and has done a wonderful job here. She has all the ingredients to become a future superstar if she makes the right choices. The moment of the movie was Sushant singing ‘Lag jaa gale’ to Sara on a rainy night by the bonfire. Poignant and beautiful! All other characters have done a good job!

I wasn’t too pleased with the negative reviews doing the rounds to be honest. Yes, Kedarnath does flatter to deceive in the middle section but despite its flaws, it deserves to be watched once. Go get your ‘darshan’ at a theatre near you.

PS : The message at the end was extremely important. Mankind helping mankind irrespective of which religion he belongs to! So apt and hopefully stays relevant going forward too!!