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Kalank

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Kalank
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAbhishek Varman
Written byStory:
Shibani Bathija
Dialogues:
Hussain Dalal
Screenplay byAbhishek Varman
Produced by
StarringVarun Dhawan
Alia Bhatt
Sanjay Dutt
Madhuri Dixit
Sonakshi Sinha
Aditya Roy Kapur
CinematographyBinod Pradhan
Edited byNamrata Rao
Music bySongs:
Pritam[1]
Score:
Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara
Production
companies
Distributed byFox Star Studios[2]
Release date
  • 17 April 2019 (2019-04-17) (India)[3]
Running time
165 minutes[4]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹130 crore[5]
Box officeest. ₹146.31 crore[6]

Kalank (pronounced [kəˈləŋk]; lit. Blemish or Stigma) is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language period romantic drama film. It was directed by Abhishek Varman and produced by Karan Johar, Hiroo Yash Johar, and Apoorva Mehta under Dharma Productions, and Sajid Nadiadwala under Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, in association with Fox Star Studios as presenter and distributor. The film is set in the pre-independence British era. The film stars an ensemble cast of Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Sanjay Dutt, Madhuri Dixit, Sonakshi Sinha, and Aditya Roy Kapur.[7][8][9]

Kalank marked the first film distributed by Fox Star Studios following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney.

Kalank was released on 17 April 2019[3] on 5,300 screens worldwide, making it the widest Bollywood release of 2019.[10] The film grossed around ₹146.31 crore, hence emerging as a box-office bomb.[6][11] It received mixed reviews upon release, with praise for its soundtrack, cinematography, production design, costumes and performances of the ensemble cast, but criticism towards its direction, story, screenplay and length.

At the 65th Filmfare Awards, Kalank received 7 nominations, including Best Supporting Actress (Dixit) and Best Music Director (Pritam), and won 2 awards – Best Male Playback Singer (Arijit Singh for "Kalank") and Best Choreography (Remo D'Souza for "Ghar More Pardesiya").

Plot

[edit]

Satya Chaudhry is told by her doctor that she has cancer and will die soon. She goes back to her native village in the Rajputana area and requests her acquaintance, Roop, to provide companionship to her husband, Dev Chaudhry who runs a liberal newspaper. Roop keeps rejecting Satya's proposal and retorts that just because Satya's father had done a lot of favours to her family, she cannot balance the scales by asking inappropriate favours but later gets convinced by her father, Dharampal, and agrees on the condition that she will marry Dev to which Satya agrees.

Once married, Dev tells Roop that he still loves Satya and that their relationship will only be cordial and platonic. A depressed Roop takes solace in music, which she begins by learning from the madam of a kotha, Bahaar Begum. Roop also begins working in her husband's publishing house, to use her education to her advantage. Roop expresses interest in writing about the condition of Heera Mandi, the locality in which the kotha is located, during which she meets with a womanising blacksmith named Zafar.

Zafar wants to exact revenge on his parents, Bahaar Begum and Balraj Chaudhry (who abandoned Zafar after ending his extramarital affair with Bahaar) by seducing Roop, as she is married to Balraj's legitimate son, Dev. Roop misconstrues Zafar's intentions and falls in love with him. She also begins to develop a friendship with Dev, much to Satya's happiness and sadness. Satya dies after urging Dev to give Roop a chance and to forgive Balraj for his affair. As part of another effort to humiliate Balraj, Zafar instigates communal hatred in his friend, Abdul Khan, by demanding for the partition of India on religious lines, which Balraj and Dev do not support.

When Balraj becomes aware of Roop and Zafar's love, he confronts Bahaar and Zafar. Bahaar, who disagrees with Zafar's approach, warns Roop and tells her about Zafar's real intentions. Heartbroken, Roop consummates her marriage with Dev but insists that she would never be able to love him. As Abdul's political stance gains leverage, riots against Hindus and Sikhs in the city take place, during which the Chaudhrys decide to flee to Amritsar with the help of Zafar, but not before Saroj, the benevolent maid is brutally stabbed to death. Zafar confesses to Roop that he eventually fell in love with her, despite his early intention. While boarding a train, Zafar is stabbed in his stomach four times with a dagger by Abdul, as Roop and Dev escape.

10 years later, Roop and Dev are interviewed about their experience by Aditya, a journalist documenting the partition. The story ends with Roop remembering Zafar and Roop's inner voice saying that the colour of love and hate is red, but it's love that often gets stigmatised or blemished.

Cast

[edit]
  • Madhuri Dixit as Bahaar Begum: Balraj's former lover; Zafar's mother; Roop's teacher
  • Sonakshi Sinha as Satya Chaudhry: Balraj's first daughter-in-law; Dev's first wife; Roop's friend
  • Alia Bhatt as Roop Sami Chaudhry: Dharampal's daughter; Satya's friend; Balraj's second daughter-in-law; Dev's second wife; Zafar's love interest; Bahaar's student
  • Varun Dhawan as Zafar: Bahaar and Balraj's illegitimate son; Dev's half-brother; Roop's love interest; Abdul's friend; Lajjo's lover
  • Aditya Roy Kapur as Dev Chaudhry: Balraj's son; Satya and Roop's husband; Zafar's half-brother
  • Sanjay Dutt as Balraj Chaudhry: Bahaar's former lover; Dev and Zafar's father; Satya and Roop's father-in-law
  • Kunal Khemu as Abdul Khan: Zafar's friend[12]
  • Achint Kaur as Saroj: Chaudhry household's housekeeper[13]
  • Pawan Chopra as Dharampal Sami: Roop's father; Dev's father-in-law
  • Hiten Tejwani as Ahmed Razi: Dev's colleague[14]

Special appearances

Production

[edit]
Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt promoting the film

Development

[edit]

Kalank was conceived by Karan Johar and his father Yash Johar about 15 years prior to its release.[16] Actress Sridevi was initially supposed to play the role of Bahaar Begum, but post her demise, the role was played by Madhuri Dixit.[17][18] Production designer Amrita Mahal was brought on board to work on the production design and structure that represented Old Delhi mohalla with a mahal in Film City, Mumbai.[19] Sajid Nadiadwala, owner and producer of Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, and Karan were present during the clap shot of Kalank.[20] The estimated cost of the set was reportedly ₹15 crore.[19] Nadiadwala and Sanjay Dutt collaborated after 24 years, having last worked on Andolan (1995).[21]

Filming

[edit]

Principal photography commenced in Film City, Mumbai on 18 April 2018.[22] Madhuri Dixit and Aditya Roy Kapur joined the cast from 31 May 2018.[23][24] Filming of an introductory song featuring Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Kiara Advani with nearly 500 backup dancers was completed on 7 May 2018.[25] Rehearsals for a second dance number featuring Dhawan, Kapur and Kriti Sanon began on 31 May 2018.[26] On 2 June 2018, a few leaked stills from the film showed Dixit donning an anarkali outfit and pasa/jhumar (hair jewellery).[27] Sonakshi Sinha joined the cast from 14 June 2018 for a 15-day filming schedule.[28][29] She is paired opposite Kapur in the film.[30] The third schedule of filming was postponed due to injuries to Bhatt, Dhawan and Kapur and was rescheduled to commence two weeks later.[31][32] Bhatt announced the film wrapped on 19 January 2019.[33]

Kalank's budget has been inconsistently reported. The producers announced a budget of ₹150 crore,[34][35] which includes print and advertising costs[36] not typically included in budget figures. Other sources published budget estimates in the ₹80 crore range.[37][38]

Soundtrack

[edit]
Main article: Kalank (soundtrack)

The soundtrack of Kalank is composed by Pritam Chakraborty, with lyrics penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya. The first single track "Ghar More Pardesiya" was released on 18 March 2019, followed by the second single "First Class" on 22 March 2019, and the third single "Kalank" on 30 March 2019. The fourth and fifth songs, "Tabaah Ho Gaye" and "Aira Gaira" was released 9 April 2019 and 13 April 2019, respectively. The entire soundtrack album was released by Zee Music Company on 22 March 2019.[39]

Release

[edit]

Theatrical

[edit]

Kalank was initially scheduled for release on 19 April 2019, but to reap benefits of the extended weekend, the release date was preponed to 17 April 2019.[3] A special screening of the film was organised for selected audience on 14 April 2019 prior to its release.[40] Kalank was certified by British Board of Film Classification and Australian Classification Board with runtime of 166 minutes and was released worldwide on 17 April.[41] The film was released on 5,300 screens worldwide making it the widest Indian film release of 2019.[10]

Home video

[edit]

Kalank was made available as VOD on Amazon Prime Video in July 2019.[42]

Reception

[edit]

Box office

[edit]

Kalank had a bumper start at the box office, collecting ₹21.60 crore on opening day.[43] The film went on to gross ₹95.65 crore in India and ₹50.66 crore from overseas markets with an overall worldwide gross of ₹146.31 crore.[6][44] But it could not maintain the momentum, soon seeing a decline in revenue, and was declared as a box-office failure.[11]

Critical response

[edit]

Kalank received mixed reviews upon release, with praise for its soundtrack, cinematography, production design, costumes and performances of the ensemble cast, but criticism towards its direction, story, screenplay and length.

Rachit Gupta of The Times of India rated the film 3 stars out of 5 and remarked, "Kalank is a true labour of love that tells you a story laced with beautiful moments that will tug you at your heartstrings." He concluded his review writing that "Kalank is a visually stunning film topped with great performances."[45] Anupama Chopra of Film Companion rated it with 3 stars out of 5 and opined "Kalank is likely to be the most visually stunning film of this year." She also remarked "The film is an operatic fantasy filled with staggering sets, swirling fabric and heartache, but to enjoy it, you must wholly suspend disbelief."[46] Raja Sen writing for Hindustan Times rated the film with 2.5 stars out of 5 and praised Dixit, Bhatt and Dhawan for shining in a "stunning, but soulless" film. He felt that "it is a stunningly plated meal, but needed more salt". He remarked "Directed by Abhishek Varman and shot by the masterful Binod Pradhan, the makers of Kalank not only want every frame to be a painting, but every dialogue, a proverb, every scene, a portent. The result is beautiful but tedious, an opera that needed a stout songstress to warble through it midway."[47] Taran Adarsh rated the film with 2 stars out of 5 and though he praised the star cast for their acting, he found the film "disappointing".[48] Writing for The Indian Express, Shubhra Gupta gave it 1.5 star out of 5 and says, "Kalank doesn't really lift off the screen. The whole feels like a giant set, stately and ponderous and minus impact; the characters all costumed and perfumed and largely life-less, sparking only in bits and pieces."[49]

Writing for NDTV, Saibal Chatterjee praised Dixit and Bhatt for their screen presence and concluded her extensive review as, "Kalank has unmistakable contemporary resonance because it celebrates the transformative power of love and reconciliation in a time of rampant discord. It is worth a viewing not only for what it says, but also for how it says it."[50] Writing for the Scroll.in, Nandini Ramnath noted out that the film glamorised the partition by replicating kitsch aesthetic, and added, "The sets, that are meant to enhance the big-screen experience, end up creating a distance from the messiness of the emotional conflicts."[51]

Accolades

[edit]
Event Date of Ceremony Category Recipient Result Ref.
Filmfare Awards 15 February 2020 Best Supporting Actress Madhuri Dixit Nominated [52]
Best Music Director Pritam Nominated
Best Lyricist Amitabh Bhattacharya for "Kalank Nahi" Nominated
Best Male Playback Singer Arijit Singh for "Kalank Nahi" Won
Best Female Playback Singer Shreya Ghoshal and Vaishali Mhade for "Ghar More Pardesiya" Nominated
Best Choreography Remo D'Souza for "Ghar More Pardesiya" Won
Remo D'Souza and Saroj Khan for "Tabaah Ho Gaye" Nominated
Zee Cine Awards 13 March 2020 Best Music Director Pritam Nominated [53]
Best Female Playback Singer Shreya Ghoshal for "Ghar More Pardesiya" Won
Best Song of the Year "First Class" Nominated
Best Production Design Amrita Mahal Won
Best Costume Design Manish Malhotra Won
Screen Awards 8 December 2019 Best Female Playback Singer Shreya Ghoshal and Vaishali Mhade for "Ghar More Pardesiya" Won [54]
Shreya Ghoshal for "Tabaah Ho Gaye" Nominated
Best Choreography Remo D'Souza for "First Class" Won
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, India 5 January 2020 Favorite Actor Varun Dhawan Nominated [55]
Lions Gold Awards 24 January 2020 Best Villain (Critics) Kunal Khemu Won
FOI Online Awards 11 February 2020 Best Music Director Pritam Nominated [56]
Best Female Playback Singer Shreya Ghoshal and Vaishali Mhade for "Ghar More Pardesiya" Nominated
Best Choreography Remo D'Souza for "Ghar More Pardesiya" Won
Remo D'Souza and Saroj Khan for "Tabaah Ho Gaye" Nominated
Best Production Design Amrita Mahal Nominated

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Mathur, Kajol (23 April 2018). "Here's an interesting update from Varun Dhawan on Kalank". Filmfare. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  2. ^ Hooli, Shekhar H. (21 April 2019). "Kalank box office collection: These are the 2 reasons for this multi-starrer multi-crore disaster". International Business Times, India Edition. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Taran Adarsh [@taran_adarsh] (9 March 2019). "IT'S FINAL... #Kalank to release on 17 April 2019 [was slated for release on 19 April 2019 initially]... Will be a 5-day *extended* opening weekend... Teaser will be out on 12 March 2019" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ^ "Kalank". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Box Office: Understanding the Economics of Kalank and why it is not a big loss-making venture for its makers". Bollywood Hungama. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  6. ^ a b c "Kalank Box Office". Bollywood Hungama. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  7. ^ "Kalank: Madhuri-Sanjay To Reunite on Screen Along With Alia, Varun, Sonakshi and Aditya". CNN-News18. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Kalank: Varun-Alia, Madhuri-Sanjay to share screen space in Karan Johar's next". The Indian Express. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  9. ^ Basu, Nilanjana (28 March 2019). "Kalank Trailer: Alia Bhatt's Self-Destructive Quest For Illicit Love With Varun Dhawan". NDTV. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  10. ^ a b Taran Adarsh [@taran_adarsh] (17 April 2019). "#Kalank screen count... India: 4000 Overseas: 1300 Worldwide total: 5300 screens* #Kalank is the widest release for Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt. *Also, #Kalank is the widest release of 2019 *so far*. *#MahaveerJayanti [Wed] and #GoodFriday [Fri] holidays will boost biz" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ^ a b "Karan Johar on Kalank's box office failure: Didn't have any breakdown". India Today. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  12. ^ "Kunal Kemmu Clamps Cast of Karan Johar's Multi-Starrer Kalank". Mid Day. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  13. ^ a b "Kalank Movie Review". Bollywood Hungama. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  14. ^ "Hiten Tejwani to feature with Alia Bhatt, Aditya Roy Kapur in Kalank". Mumbai Mirror. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  15. ^ "Kalank song Aira Gaira teaser: Kriti Sanon to groove with Varun Dhawan, Aditya Roy Kapur in this new dance number". Hindustan Times. 12 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  16. ^ "Kalank movie announcement highlights: Madhuri Dixit and Sanjay Dutt to share screen space after 25 years". The Indian Express. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  17. ^ "Karan Johar's Kalank Stars Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Dutt And Many Others. Sridevi, You'll Be Missed". NDTV.com. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  18. ^ "Madhuri Dixit replaces Sridevi in KJo's upcoming film 'Kalank' – The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  19. ^ a b "Kalank: Karan Johar recreated Old Delhi in Mumbai but it cost him a fortune". The Asian Age. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  20. ^ "As Karan Johar's Kalank begins filming, pictures and updates from first day on set". Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  21. ^ "Sajid Nadiadwala and Sanjay Dutt come together after 24 years with Kalank". Bollywood Hungama. 15 April 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  22. ^ "As Karan Johar's Kalank begins filming, pictures and updates from first day on set". Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  23. ^ "Madhuri Dixit begins shooting for Kalank". The Asian Age. 28 April 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  24. ^ "Karan Johar gatecrashes Kalank dance rehearsal; Fawad, Mahira Khan on magazine cover: Social Media Stalker's Guide". Firstpost. 31 May 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  25. ^ "Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt shoot for the first song in Karan Johar's Kalank with 500 back-up dancers". Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  26. ^ Coutinho, Natasha (31 May 2018). "Kalank: Kriti Sanon to grove with Varun Dhawan, Aditya Roy Kapur in a special song". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  27. ^ "LEAKED! Madhuri Dixit's look as a courtesan from the sets of KALANK". Bollywood Hungama. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  28. ^ "Sonakshi Sinha joins 'Kalank' cast after wrapping 'Happy Phirr Bhaag Jayegi' shoot". Deccan Chronicle. 14 June 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  29. ^ Coutinho, Natasha (12 June 2018). "Sonakshi Sinha joins Aditya Roy Kapur in Abhishek Varman's Kalank". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  30. ^ "Kalank: Looking forward to pair up with Aditya Roy Kapur for the first time, says Sonakshi Sinhha – Mumbai Mirror -". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  31. ^ Darade, Pooja (26 July 2018). "Kalank: Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt's film's 3rd schedule gets postponed; find out why". pinkvilla.com. Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  32. ^ "Sonakshi Sinha completes filming her part in Kalank, posts photo that speaks a thousand words - check it out". Times Now. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  33. ^ Singh, Shalu (9 January 2019). "Alia Bhatt is all smiles after wrapping last schedule of Kalank. See pics". India TV News. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  34. ^ "'Kalank' Box Office Collection: Varun Dhawan-Alia Bhatt starrer fails the Monday litmus test miserably". DNA. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  35. ^ Goyal, Divya (23 April 2019). "Kalank Box Office Collection Day 6: Not A 'First Class' Day For Alia Bhatt And Varun Dhawan's Film". NDTV. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  36. ^ adarsh, taran (19 April 2019). "Is it ₹ 110 cr? Or ₹ 140 cr? Or is it ₹ 160 cr?... There's tremendous speculation about the cost of #Kalank... Various numbers are floating on social media... Let's clear the doubt... The makers had officially shared the costing on the day of release: ₹ 150 cr [CoP P&A]".
  37. ^ "Kalank Box Office Collection Day 1: Varun Dhawan-Alia Bhatt's film expected to earn over Rs 18 crore". Business Today. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  38. ^ "Kalank box office day 4: Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan film earns ₹54 crore, ₹100 weekend impossible". Hindustan Times. 21 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  39. ^ "Kalank – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". Jio Saavn. 14 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  40. ^ "Photos: Karan Johar, Shweta Bachchan and others attend a special screening of 'Kalank'". Times of India. 15 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  41. ^ Taran Adarsh [@taran_adarsh] (16 April 2019). "#CensorNews: #Kalank certified 12A by British censors on 12 April 2019. Approved run time: 165 min, 34 sec [2 hours, 45 minutes, 34 seconds]. #UK #Kalank certified M by Australian censors on 15 April 2019. Approved run time: 166 min [2 hours, 46 minutes]. #Australia" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  42. ^ "Kalank". Amazon. July 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  43. ^ "Varun Dhawan on His First Flop Kalank: The Failure Hit me Hard, Didn't Know How to React". News18. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  44. ^ "KALANK: Karan Johar stares at the biggest flop of his career". Bollywood Hungama. 22 April 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  45. ^ Gupta, Rachit (17 April 2019). "Kalank Movie Review". Times of India. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  46. ^ Chopra, Anupama (17 April 2019). "Kalank Movie Review: The Artificiality Works Because The Emotions Feel Real". Film Companion. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  47. ^ Sen, Raja (17 April 2019). "Kalank movie review: Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Madhuri Dixit shine in a stunning but soulless film". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  48. ^ Taran Adarsh [@taran_adarsh] (17 April 2019). "#OneWordReview… #Kalank: DISAPPOINTING. Rating:⭐️⭐️ Doesn't live up to the expectations... Writing, music, length play spoilsport... Few dramatic portions work... Second half engaging in parts... Good climax... Varun, Alia, Madhuri, Aditya, Kunal Kemmu top notch. #KalankReview https://t.co/rJgyNi3Ain" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  49. ^ Gupta, Shubhra (20 April 2019). "Kalank review: All show and no go". The Indian Express. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  50. ^ Chatterjee, Saibal (17 April 2019). "Kalank Movie Review: Stunning Alia Bhatt And Luminous Madhuri Dixit Make Film Near-Spotless". NDTV. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  51. ^ Ramnath, Nandini (17 April 2019). "'Kalank' review: Partition-era saga is derailed by a lack of feeling". Scroll.in. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  52. ^ "Winners of 65th Amazon Filmfare Awards 2020". Filmfare. 15 February 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  53. ^ "Zee Cine Awards 2020 Winners". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  54. ^ bollywoodproduct (18 May 2022). "26th Screen Awards 2020 | Star Screen Awards 2020". Bollywood Product. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  55. ^ "Nick India Announces Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2019 India Nominations". 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  56. ^ "5th FOI Online Awards". foionlineawards. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
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