Kismat Konnection

Kismat Konnection falls under the league of feel-good NRI love stories having a customary Indian narration in some foreign location. The kinds where every person the hero even randomly stumbles upon speaks to him in Hindi. The kinds where the hero is still named Raj Malhotra. Where’s the story, you ask? Left to chance…fate, destiny, luck or Kismat as you may call it. It’s a first movie of Shahid Kapoor after ending his friendship with Kareena Kapoor, beautiful Bollywood actress.

Raj Malhotra (Shahid Kapoor) is the university topper but somehow luck isn’t favouring him. Five years post graduation he is still jobless and waiting for his first assignment as an architect. Kismat connects as he comes across Priya (Vidya Balan) who happens to be his lucky charm. In her presence even the impossible turns achievable for Raj who desperately seeks her company in all his endeavours from employment to affection.

 Kismat Konnection starts on a promising note but soon resorts to conventional formula.  The second half drags with Raj’s repeated attempts to win the construction contract. The love triangle is clearly off-track and is simply enforced to manipulate that mandatory sangeet song sequence to appease the family and NRI audiences. This time around, Shahid Kapoor display a hangover of… not no Shah Rukh but Amitabh Bachchan in the initial reels and also does a complete take on his extended Namak Halaal dialogue.

 Nevertheless, he soon comes to his usual self and gives a sincere performance. Vidya Balan carries a graceful charm and is natural as ever. Om Puri is effective in his imposing character with a Punjabi accent. Vishal Malhotra repeats his friendly act for the nth time. Age has caught up with Juhi Chawla and it shows onscreen.

Concisely, the film only connects with the viewer intermittently and a lot has been left to Kismat.

 Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Vidya Balan, Juhi Chawla, Om Puri, Vishal Malhotra,

 Director: Aziz Mirza