Kedarnath : A cocktail of love, passion and religion bound by faith

Faith. Faith is the secret that hides in plain sight to be discovered by us and is probably the only difference between the ordinary and the extra ordinary. Sometimes you get to choose it while sometimes it chooses you. But most times its ingrained and brainwashed in you, as religion. Just a thought, imagine if people had more faith in people than in religion. I’m not talking about god, I’m talking about religion. The two have no connection even though its projected like that.

How would that world function? Would it even exist? Well, it sure would have problems of its own but definitely not one that chooses preaching over kindness or humanity.

Have you ever been drawn to a person where you have minimal control and say in? I’m not talking physical, leave that out of this. Just plain simple liking for another being, as they are, for who they are. And all you hope and pray for is their happiness, regardless of where it comes from.

If you have, then you understand there is a higher force that is trying hard to make you see the good, in spite of the bad. If not, you might never understand why people choose to love knowing very well that reality does not support this dream.

Kedarnath is the story of the horrific floods that swept across Uttarkhand, wiping out the city as it was known, bringing it down to its knees. Set in the background of a love story where a Hindu girl falls head over heels for a Muslim boy, the movie narrates the tale of faith, religion, love and of course the fury of nature. Debuting her reign in the Hindi Cinema Industry, Sara Ali Khan plays Mandakini, the daughter of the senior pandit, while Sushant Singh Rajput is Mansoor Khan, a travel companion/ medium for the god bound pilgrims.

Directed by Abhishek Kapoor the film is a 120 minutes long feature presentation that has an engaging first half but loses pace in the second. The story is predictable and has no content that keeps you on the edge of your seats or draws the deep emotion in you that are present in a star-crossed lovers drama. What works for the film however are its lead actors who in spite of a lacklustre script have managed to put life in their characters.

Sara Ali Khan is promising as an actor and has given a performance worthy of a debutant and is by far the best display of skill by a filmy background star kid that I have seen. Whereas Sushant has as usual played his character to the T and continues sharpening his art with every passing film. Even though Sara does manage to over power with her charm and beauty in the film, Sushant’s portrayal of Mansoor is subtle yet powerful making his character that much more attractive.

The story is written by Abhishek Kapoor and Kanika Dhillon while dialogues and screenplay are by Kanika Dhillon. As the script lacks a progressive clarity thus the screenplay also does add to that already present confusion. The concept is a winner but is unable to deliver a great film in the end, as the execution is sloppy. What does give wind to this ark is the music of the film. Keeping it to a basic 5 songs album, the music is appealing and lyrics captivating embossing the essence of the story more than the screenplay did. Thus, Amit Trivedi has again created a melodious album and Amitabh Bhattacharya is the magician lyricist behind the lovely poetry. My favorite has to be Jann Nisar, without a doubt while Namo Namo, is pleasing to the ears and does gives you goosebumps showing a glimpse of what pure faith in the almighty is like.

All in all, Kedarnath does the job nicely of launching another actor in the industry and making for a decent watch that does not get you heavy on the emotion side of love or the disaster, that took place. While that could mean that it doesn’t engage you as much as film of this genre has the capacity to, but still doesn’t fall completely flat and so is worth a watch. For people looking for a less on the emotion and more on the entertainment front, this one is your pick. Take your special someone along and that would just be the difference between an ordinary outing to an extraordinary one. 😊