User Reviews

I watched the promos. I didn't really pay much attention to the promos. The first screening and boom, so many videos on youtube. The one of SRK's item song really got me to go and watch the film. I sat through the first 20 - 30 minutes...bored. Then it picks up. The ending is very ironic. This movie is very hyping. My ratings for this movie are 1) Story - 9/10; 2) Direction - 7/10 (The Weaker point); 3) Performances - 8/10; 4) Character Development - 8/10; 5) Overall - 8/10. In my point of view, this movie is nice. If you're not such a big fan of thrillers, then this is not for you to watch because it is...well... it's a thriller.

Plot Outline: Tourists Dev (Vivek Oberoi), Ishika (Lara Dutta) and two friends explore Orbit National Park, a tiger haven. They meet Wildlife experts Krish (John Abraham) and Riya (Esha Deol) who are exploring recent mysterious man-eater killings for National Geographic Channel. They are joined by Kali (Ajay Devgan) who takes up the challenge of guiding them though the mysteries of the jungle.

Comment: Kaal is pot-pourri of Ram Gopal Verma and Karan Johar's styles since Writer/Director Soham had been an assistant to both. RGV's style is visible in the thriller plot, pale ghosts and bizarre deaths. Johar didn't forget to cast SRK, this time in an Item number. The movie shares similarities with Ghost and the Darkness, Wrong Turn, etc.

There isn't much acting to see, thanks to the incoherent script and lack of room for characters to grow. Music is decent; choreography is stereotype. Jim Corbett National Park is well captured. No wonder they are facing a suit for the alleged violation of the Wildlife act.

Rating: 2/5

'Crouching Tiger, Hiding Viewer!'

Kaal Dir- Soham Cast- Vivek Oberoi, John Abraham, Lara Dutta, Esha Deol, Vishal Malhotra, Vineet Sharma and Ajay Devgan. Written by- Soham Rating- *

Man-eating tigers are the least horrifying aspect of 'Kaal'- Karan Johar's Dharma Productions and Shahrukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment's valiant march into Varma's world! There's a much more dangerous threat lurking in the reels of this debacle! It appears as if the whole cast is infected with a virus that induces horrendously low levels of acting! In what must be a brilliant achievement- Soham has managed to extract impossibly bad performances not only from 'specialists at bad acting' like Esha Deol and Lara Dutta, but even from the talented Vivek Oberoi and the highly gifted Ajay Devgan.

That leaves us with John Abraham. Don't worry, he's pathetic too! We are first introduced to his toned abdomen while he is running and then, shown him serenading with a python! Some gay fantasy, this! Thankfully, we are also informed that he works with the National Geographic and has a wife, Riya(Esha Deol). Krish(Johnny boy!) and Riya head off to the jungle of Orbit Park to investigate an increasing number of suspicious killings, apparently by tigers. Jungle mein mangal? Orbit(Corbett rechristened?!?) Park incidentally boasts the largest number of tigers in India. Also on their way to this tigerland are a group of city-bred animals- Dev(Vivek Oberoi), Ishika(Lara Dutta), Vishal(Vishal Malhotra) and Sajid(Kushal Punjabi). A car-breakdown and a 'mrityunjaya mantra' reciting weirdo(Vineet Sharma) later, our animals encounter the python-lover and his lover! A few more reels and a few more killings! Enter Kali Pratap Singh(Ajay Devgan), a mysterious villager who offers to help them get out of the jungle. All things aside, Ajay Devgan's entrance is a crackling scene that actually gives one the goose bumps, unlike the creepy scenes which were meant to…but never do! The time by which this bunch runs away from the jungle, a few more surprises are revealed. A good student of cinema will see the twist coming a long way before it actually does. And while that takes away from the thrill of the revelation, what hurts more is the script's sudden jumping of genres. A bad case of identity crisis- the script is unsure whether it is a thriller or a horror! So while the movie promises you a wild thriller in the first half, it resorts to the supernatural in the latter half!

The screenplay moves at a turgid pace with no significant episode in the first three-quarters of an hour. Desperate attempts at making the audiences jump from their seats result in loud guffaws. Sample this- we are led to believe that an anonymous hand is about to cause some terror to a character only to be revealed that the hand in question is the character's own! Hands down, the most stupid scene! Also stupid is Lara Dutta exercising her vocal chords in a role that she has screamed her way through! Vivek Oberoi makes more facial contortions than a constipated man while Esha Deol redefines poor acting and looks like she's straight out of a lingerie ad for a tiger-skin brassiere! The usually dependable Ajay Devgan is made to mouth lines that are far below his acting quotient. The only decent act comes from Vineet Kumar as Bagga. The sound by Dwarak Warrier is brilliant but overused to a nauseating effect.

In a nutshell, Dharma is no Varma! All the monkey-screeches, tiger-roars, owl-howls and Lara-screams add up to one excruciating visit to the cinema hall! A toddler behind me kept insisting his father to leave the theater and go home. Actually, he was voicing the sentiments of all present!

• Abhishek Bandekar

Rating- *

* Poor ** Average *** Good **** Very Good ***** Excellent

29th April, 2005

Kaal was supposed to be the best film of the year before its release. But, as usual bollywood has produced yet another Hollywood style (read copy) time waster. The macho men like Ajay Devagan and Vivek Oberoi also could not save the disaster.

Some sequences clearly are copied from "Final Destination" and Taran Adarsh of Indiafm says these scenes are the best. I seriously don't understand how come he became a film critic. Tasteless cheap idiot.

The promos gave much hype to the movie with tigers and all the stuff. Clearly Soham concentrated more on the promos than the original film. Esha and Lara prove to be a waste. To be frank I don't find a single positive point about the movie except the marketing and pre release promotion.

My advice is not to watch the movie and waste your money.

Rating **.

I had seen this film yesterday, considering it to be a Karan Johar & Shahrukh Khan Production, expected much more than the crap that I just saw.

The Acting was very poor, plots that were undefined & unexpected, background music that was terrible & reallyyyyyyy nothing scary. It was just a popcorn ride.

The film could have been much, much, better than what was imagined & directed by Soham. The plot changed from one part to another & then what do you recognize at the end, it is the same old Indian Masala.

Most of the Scenes were copied from Hollywood films which by surprise should not happen under a Huge banner.

Well at the end, just would like to say that it was waste of time & money.

When you have a reputable banner, Dharma Productions, BIG stars-Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar, and a fantastic publicity campaign backing a film, you KNOW the movie will make money. The fantastic start that KAAL has got at the box office is obviously, no surprise. But, the movie, dear Dharma productions, is sad, bad and very boring.

The movie is about John Abraham, a tiger expert working for National Geographic, his photographer wife, Esha Deol who goto Orbit Park to unearth the secrets of man-eating tigers. Surprisingly, this happens without any information to the channel, and they just land up there and try explore. The story then brings in Vivek Oberoi, Lara Dutta and their two friends, all of whom are on vacation, and as their car breaks down, a sudden turn of events lands them at Orbit Park, and after they meet Abraham and Deol, the story moves on. They meet the tigers and Ajay Devgan later, and soon tragedies happen around them, and I wouldn't spoil that for anyone who'd want to see this ridiculous excuse of a movie, which has no narrative and pace.

Soham tries to make his audience THINK. Like Oberoi lighting the cigarette and Abraham making that scary face. Obviously, the audience add two and two and make i four, but Mr. Soham is no Hitchcock. Dude, when you throw in something confusing at least offer an explanation for it. THAT's what makes the movie interesting and adds repeat value. Remember when Kevin Spacey says "the greatest trick the devil ever pulled off was to convince the world that he did not exist" or when Haley Joel Osement says "I see dead people around...the big problem is they themselves do not know they're dead"...well, it all had a meaning! Oberoi saying "smoking kills" and then smoking, eeesh! Care to explain? There are a gazillion more loop holes! A lot of people have spoken about the 'mixed reactions' the movie as got. Heck, the movie has got bad reviews everywhere, except for from Mr. Taran Adarsh, leading trade analyst. And that makes me think, why and how. Quite simply, he is obsessed with everything Karan Johar and ShahRukh Khan do. And he has no qualms about it either. He'd even rate admittedly bad things from the Khan-Johar camp and make them sound good. So, when such a reputed analyst rates the film so highly, most of the audiences are given further incentive to go watch the film.

I remember when DHOOM released, Mr. Adarsh very categorically said that "after the initial hype, this movie will die down". Taran, DHOOM was still an entertainer. KAAL, to which you give 4 stars out of 5, is dull. You may love Johar and SRK, but call a spade a spade man! I'd give this movie a */***** and that too for the brilliant sound, and the very first item number on SRK and the hot hot Malaika. The movie is downhill from there. Of course, SRK and Johar would go laughing to the bank, but guys, please don't torture us like this anymore.

Pride is what caused Kaal. I could somehow feel Karan Johar in each and every shot, and the forced acting, the worst use of the wide angle, funny jungle sounds you could buy on a cheap CD, and of course, Shah Rukh Khan and Mallaika. For a moment it seemed more like a Pepsi Commercial, and a badly directed one at that. Strangers meet in jungle, hacked one by one, until they come upon the big secret, something that you'll guess anyway within the first fifteen minutes of the movie. the only person it might fool is someone sleeping through the movie. The Director must have really begged to get this chance, and Karan Johar must have been desperately bored. Some claim this film is a hit. Of course it will be. That's why Shah Rukh appears at the beginning, to tell us: "it's all right! this kind of crap is endorsed by me, see?" The movie is an insult to the paying-public. Of course, only a Karan Johar can get away with such blatant disrespect, with his already immoral films setting the trends for today's youngsters. while aditya chopra strives for morals, karan johar exploits the lack of it. True, he does vibe well with the public. But for how long?

Well this movie is not like the typical Bollywood horror movie. It has its different tone. Screenplay is good. But lacks story and the climax can easily be predicted. Good cast but the acting has little surprised me because all are overreacting except Ajay Devgn. Ajay Devgn was superb in the movie and fit to play the character that he plays. Otherwise just decent watch you can give it a try. It's not that horror but it's a good thriller.....

Shahrukh Khan & Karan Johar's KAAL is an apt example of Cinema gone Wrong in a big way.......Since there were LOt of References to make from .....The Ghost & The Darkness, The Wrong Turn, Blair witch Project & of the like......The film should not have gone wrong.....but the crappy twist & the faulty screenplay takes away the charm that Actors(Mainly: Ajay Devgan & John Abraham) & the Technical Team(Santosh Thundiyil....Take A Bow....)packs it....Soham is a Good Craftsman...But not a Fine Story-teller...he should not have wasted the great production on such a inept story....Maybe he can tell a apt story next time ..... ..... Overall Expectation Ruined......

Good story Turned Faulty......

(MIS) Cast - John Abraham, Esha Deol, Vivek oberoi, Lara Dutta, Ajay devgan, Kushal Punjabi and Pameet Sethi, The movie is all about why it is happening at the ORBIT National Park, (Jim Corbet Netional Park, Uttranchal , India (RENAMED)). Any ways what was so strange there. Some mysterious killings. but as it is well known (rumored) that it is being done by a MANEATNG tigers group!!!!!!! And guess who is going there to find out what is behind the scene, (A photographer from National Geographic channel)John Abraham,- Can some body answer where are Indian FOREST OFFICERS, (ON LEAVE/or every one left the "Orbit " National Park, because they know a natgeo photographer will be here to find this out)-. was there with his Wife (Esha Deol).

and then there was Vivek Oberoi and party, vivek with his Girl Friend Lara Dutta and Kushal Punjabi plus Vihsal , (Point to be noted ) they met in a way that Vivek Oberoi's (Re Technitioned)LAND CRUISER and NAT GEO's TATA SAFARI or Mahindra SCOPIO (or something like that) both broke down and they got lift from a man diving Maruti Gypsi (moral of the story Land Crusier is not meant for Safari Ride ). Interesting.

after that three or four accidents while safari. Sound Defects (i repeat defects) -a Match stick flame felt like a blast - what will u call it EFFECT!!!!!!! oh enough of sound effects thing, where is Ajay Devgan, so here he is just before Intermission to save the life of our worthy heroic group, (mylord point to be noted Vishal was filming the scene on his SONY handy cam) .

after some two or three mysterious killing they found the real Culprit and they escape from jungle for the sake of life because they can not kill any body who is all ready dead.

They got the secret and escaped . And the most hilarious part of the movie ---> a NATGEO photographers generates his task report and wrote it as "all is done by a bhoot(GHOST) and not by the MANEATING TIGER!!!!!!!!", who is the Ghost???? - sorry sir i am not supposed to destroy a movies business for this u have to watch the movie. Better wait for VCD/DVD and rent it, because the movie is not a worth keeping

what is done by actors -- nothing!!! Lara, John and Ajay were quite talented from my point of view, before i had seen the movie. Vivek and Esha are again a not to talk about thing.

and this movie seems to be a long advertisement of SONY and NATGEO. the movie starts from a great count of media and official partners.No awards on counting them, yet been declared by Dharma productions and Red Chillies.

Do watch it if u want to kill u KAAL(TIME). Guys this is not KAAL this is AKAAL of one good Bollywood thriller.

2 out of ten.

Pros and Cons of Kaal

Pros: 1. Title Song 2. some very few chilling scenes 3. Dwarak Warrier has some good sound effects

Cons: 1. A supernatural story in the guise of a realistic entertainer. ('Darna Mana Hai' was a much better movie.) 2. Bad Cinematography. Immature use of wide angle shots. 3. Editing is too fast-cut; especially when it comes to showing dead bodies or tiger attacks 4. National Geographic has done a blunder in associating itself with such a storyline. 5. Too many logical mistakes 6. Immature Direction; Soham should have resisted the temptation to use cheap tricks to induce horror. Soham, next time, do a sanity check on the scenes after you shoot them. 7. Jarring background score 8. Bad acting 9. Does not really promote any awareness on tiger conservation or wildlife preservation. 10. Tigers look as if they are on a circus ramp. Don't forget to watch their 'catwalk' during the Ajay Devgan introduction scene.

This is an ill-conceived, ill-written and ill-directed movie. The infrared shots of the jungle with background sound of crickets does't evoke any admiration for the grossly immature direction. Then there is the venerable Ajay Devgan as "Kali (Kali Prathap Singh to be precise-to let the viewers know that this reviewer has seen this film), walking out of the woods like Moses, with a bamboo pole (with Manish Malhotra not far behind!)-three tigers walk away with the tail between their legs! truly a jungle Film, there is even magic here. I can't believe a reputable banner like Dharma Productions would be remotely associated with this junk, However I can fully believe someone like Sharukh Khan would be behind this venture, since Junk Films are right up his alley.

Some seriously poor acting tanked the movie ratings in a strong storyline.

the movie doesn't contain any plot or substance. there are two item number routines, one to start the movie off, and another to end it off.

other than these, there is nothing much interesting in the movie.

the two actresses try to display as much flesh as possible, which is a little confusing, considering that the whole movie is shot in the middle of a jungle. one must admit that the director has utilized the resources at his disposal in this department well.

the tigers don't appear long enough in the script. when they do its quite an artificial scene. hardly something that makes one tremble with fear.

biggest issue is the disconnect between the pitching of the movie through its two songs, while the movie has nothing to do with them.

Kaal – it's all about living up to your promise.

Yes, Kaal promised much. A songless thriller from The Karan Johar stable! Set in Jim Corbett, an array of dazzling stars, an item number from the Chaiyya Chaiyya pair and a man eater tiger to moot. And super cool promos which got most of us excited.

But alas, kaal is all about a great promo and an ordinary product. It pretty much falls in the slasher fest genre which studiously sticks to the following rules

1.Loud is scary. Yes, every scene is recorded with high pitched sound and screechy noises! Sure there could be a better way of scaring people. 2.The hero's best friends are the first to be killed. Here the character Vishal, dies twice in five minutes, if once was not bad enough. 3.Point the needle of suspicion on the main characters and get them into a scuffle. We do not even get to see John and Vivek fight. The way their girl friends, get them to back off has to be seen to be believed. 4.Have one scary dream sequence in the middle of nowhere, and expect the audience to wake up after that! 5.Headless corpses are a must; throw a couple of them for good effect.

But, hey this movie is set in Jim Corbett (read Orbit Park) and we need to talk about tiger conservation. Remember we have a marketing tie up with Nat Geo. Sure show a hanging owl and langoor dangling from a tree every twenty minutes and a python wrapped around John's torso (strong suspicion that Karan insisted on this shot). And John is after all a "Tiger expert" working with Nat Geo.

The acting skills in a slasher fest are strictly limited to the women shrieking, screaming, running and obviously dressed in skimpy clothes (remember no songs for such displays). And the men , Vivek Oberoi has perfected the art of being Mr. Irritating (with kajal and lipstick make up !) and considering his acting skills are rather limited , one can be rest assured his real life persona is not way different ( now do we blame Sallu for wanting to bash him up). Devgan who has a psychobabble mumbo jumbo background score blaring as he enters, has a staff to cover his face and his intense brooding eyes hope to add to the terror. John looks good and it's a little too much to expect him to act.

Yes, Kaal is all this and more! Do watch it, you would never complain about why Karan Johar makes the same kind of KKHH, KHNH, K3G movies. He should leave this genre to the Ramus of the world and not to forget the director of this venture is Soham Ali (he was assistant to both Ramu and Karan prior to this). One piece of advise to Soham, stick to assisting, it's not such a bad thing.

Amazed by the promos,I happily took the risk of putting my studies apart and watched the movie.And it is necessary to say-I WASTED MY TIME.Truly,a ridiculous movie,with no aim,no theme and no direction(of course we can say this).I was thinking in the whole movie that when the movie will begin?That's true,there was no beginning in the movie.Just a fool effort of horrifying the viewer.And the reason behind all these murders-the ghost,My GOD,how one can write such a boring story.And the ending of the movie was the worst one I ever saw.The only plus point of the movie was it's background score.Salim-Sulaiman done their job quite nicely.The part of the forest officer was forcefully send to the doubt list.With so many flaws,the movie only puts the fame of Johar camp down.DON'T WATCH IT,EVEN AT FREE OF COST,USE TWO HOURS OF YOUR LIFE FOR SOMETHING USEFUL.

Well, I just finished watching, correction, suffering through the movie and I felt I HAD to express my views somehow. Then I went through the other comments on this movie and realized most of them expressed those same views anyway. Yes, it's true, like everyone else has said, it's a huge waste of time, it's a worthless movie with no substance, and Soham should not be given any creative control ever again.

There are two things I am amazed with... I mean the movie was really bad, I can accept that without much surprise, it is almost expected to happen in Bollywood when we're dealing with anything outside the romantic drama genre. But this flick received Karan Johar's support! What was he thinking?! The movie was not entertaining in the least, from start to finish, it simply takes the most boring bits out of the worst thriller or horror movies you may have seen, mashes them together and actually calls itself a movie. Think of it as a movie that starts out like The Ghost and The Darkness and ends like Final Destination, and it is nowhere near as entertaining as either of those movies. I am not going to comment on acting or music or anything else because the basic plot of the movie, and its execution was so horrible and out of place, one can only stare shocked scene through scene that Karan Johar agreed to produce this. Concepts like acting, background music, etc, don't make sense when the basic framework they reside in is pure nonsense. The second thing that amazed me(the first being Karan's backing of this movie) is Ajay Devgan playing the principal character. I was always of the opinion that Ajay Devgan is an actor who follows a good script with the necessary substance, not one of those actors who would sign for a movie with the big banners because they are made by the big banners. Moreover, his character in Kaal is so ridiculous (I am struggling to find any other word to describe it), I am surprised he felt he would be making any sense acting his part out.

The peripheral characters are for the most part just as ludicrously scripted. I've read a few reviews elsewhere and comments on IMDb comparing this to an RGV production. Kaal is far from any RGV film, even Darna Mana Hai. It should be noted that at no point in this movie does it actually invoke any emotion in you, it simply drags on and on and the only reason I suffered through the whole thing was so I could write this comment with a clear conscience of having watched it in its entirety. I could speak in more detail about whatever little plot there is but most of you who have not watched it yet would probably still prefer to watch it and judge it for yourself and ignore the majority of the comments here, just as I did. To a certain extent, it is worth doing that, just to see why Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan should not be trusted as much as they are now.