Bollywood review: Hrithik Roshan's 'Krrish3' packs in stunning visuals

Creating a world of superheroes on screen isn’t a cakewalk. And, the exercise turns immensely trickier when there’s no comic history to fall back on.

Clearly, those challenges are quite visible in director Rakesh Roshan’s third installment – ‘Krrish3’.  He has, however, obediently stuck to the fundamentals of spinning a superhero movie that centres on the battle of the good versus the bad, but it’s his decision to limit the visual effects that makes his effort rather unimaginative. 

There are some incredible visual moments, no doubt, but eliminating the song-and-dances for more consequential action stunts would have been more striking. 

While his stunning superhero Krrish might be able to do some damage control, considering he enjoys immense adulation from children, the impact on the older, more discerning audience might not be as favourable. 

Roshan’s two-hour-and-thirty-minute screenplay is rather indulgent, punctured with numerous songs and dances that leave the superhero little time to flaunt his action thrills. He gets to fly constantly and work his facial muscles, but the real action is saved for the last few minutes.

If anything, it’s Krrish’s extraordinary dance moves, and his chiselled body that is displayed in a song, that greatly impresses us. 

‘Krrish3’ kicks off with a quick recap of the story so far, and highlights how Krrish had reunited with his dad Dr Rohit Mehra in the last movie.  The two are seen enjoying a happy life, along with the giggly-journo and woman of the house Priya.

Although Krrish struggles to find a normal day job, he busies himself by saving people in distress. Whether it’s rescuing a boy from falling off a building or ensuring an airplane lands without any snags, Krrish ensures he’s got it all covered.

While he isn’t doing any stunts, he’s busy distributing Krrish merchandise to his fans. The screenplay in the first half is dedicated to establishing two parallel worlds – one that belongs to Krrish and his loyalists, and the other that explores the menacing methods of Kaal and his army of mutants. Their worlds are set against an evil conspiracy that ties together human viruses and antidotes.

The real battle, however, begins in the second half, with Kaal and Krrish facing each other in the last crucial minutes. This, in effect, is the best part of ‘Krrish3’.

Despite the masked limitations, Hrithik Roshan surely looks like he’s had a blast playing the caped hero. There’s not much he needs to do, apart from (well) flying around and punching the baddies, and that he does with aplomb.

Being a Bollywood hero has surely turned out to be a great training ground for fine tuning his superhero skills. He also doubles up as the aged scientist, and it’s the grey hair, wrinkles, pot-belly and his quirky walk that helps him step in as Krrish’s ageing dad. 

Vivek Oberoi, who spends a lot of time strapped to a wheel-chair, uses his eyes, metallic voice and two fingers to do the evil talk. And, when he finally regains his power to walk, he’s fit into a metallic suit that barely allows him to display his facial expressions. 

He’s also got his army of mutants whom he creates fusing animal and human genes, to help him in conquering planet earth. Of them, Kangana Ranaut plays the slimy chameleon Kaya, who looks devilish in a suit. She walks the cat-walk and even skips a heartbeat for the good guy. 

Priyanka Chopra giggles her way through as the good girl of the Krrish household. There’s a shift in her personality and the evil face-off turn quite confusing in parts.

Overall, ‘Krrish3’ will turn out to be a fun adventure for the little kids and Hrithik loyalists. For the rest of us, it’s going to be just another superhero attempt in the right direction. Hopefully, it won’t be long before we get our very own superman!
 

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