The K-Kqueen is back. Yes, Ekta Kapoor with her mother Shobha Kapoor strikes back on the big screen with her new film 'Krishna Cottage' though this time minus her brother Tusshar. She debuted as a producer on big screen with a remake of 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' in 'Kucch To Hai'. Ekta is known for her mega serials on almost every channel and all starting with the letter 'K'. She chose director of her hit serial 'Kahiin Kissi Roz', Santram Verma, to direct 'Krishna Cottage' too. However, it can be said that Ekta is yet to learn tactics and strategies that make a film work on celluloid. 'Krishna Cottage' is not a trash but these days there is no place for a mediocre film. 'Krishna Cottage' had huge expectations and people were eager to watch a perfect horror film. The film is nearer Ram Gopal Verma's 'Bhoot' than to the genre set by Ramsay brothers as in 'Purana Mandir'. The film tries to cash on the wave of teen-age horror flicks in Hollywood. 'Kucch to Hai' was the first to taste the blood and now it is the turn of 'Krishna Cottage'.
The story of this movie revolves around a group of teenage boys and girls. Shanti (Natasha- The ding dong girl) is a college-going girl. She loves the brightest boy of the campus (Sohail Khan) who has just returned from abroad. The other people are Nupur (Diyva Palat), her boyfriend. Tulli (Vrajesh Hirji) teases him for his looks. All these boys and girls are happy and enjoy the campus life. Enters the new bimbette Disha (Isha Koppikar- the khallas girl) in the college and every one is mesmerized by her beauty and charisma. Even Shanti's love is not spared and nor is Tulli, who has a major crush for this girl. But as soon as this girl joins the group unexpected things start happening.
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The chandelier falls in the midst of a party. The boy driving the vehicle sees a wall of ice on the road and almost strikes against it. Tulli on the other hand wants to impress Disha, and one day he finds a book- 'Kahi Unkahi Baatein'. It is a lover's delight as the stories tell the true feeling of love, passion and emotions. Tulli asks Nupur to go through it and tell him some tips to impress Disha. But, this book is doomed, as the very first edition of the book could never make it to the market. The book Tulli got was the only one in tact. Nupur reads the book through, but someone is there who does not want to let people know the climax of the last story. Nupur is dead and so is his boyfriend when he goes through it.
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Tulli realizes why his friends are being killed, Shanti too knows the secret now and both of them have their lives in danger. Sunita Menon (Rati Agnihotri), an exorcist, comes to their help. But nothing happens, when the final showdown begins between the good and the evil. Now, only Shanti can save the people around. Her attempt fails too and it seems that nothing can be done to save the innocent boys and girls. But, as usual in Bollywood, the film has a happy end. So the director and his writers' team crashes on the creativity level. The last half an hour kills the total impact of the film that it builds in first two hours.
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The whodunit formula is not new for Hindi film viewers. Director Santram Verma did try novelty in 'Krishna Cottage'. The catch line of the film is: Finish the book before it finishes you. The idea seems to be have been built keeping the doomed book in focus. Just after the two deaths, the secret behind the killing is unfolded in the film. After this it is only people running around to save their lives from the known murderer. This is not an ideal concept for a horror film. Films like these should keep the suspense intact till the last reel but Santram Verma plays the tactic he used in his TV serials. He believes in brining new jerks and turns to the story after every ten minutes; it looks impressive in the beginning but becomes repetitive later. One can afford to have a blind turn after every 16 minutes or so in a soap opera but not in a film. People come to watch movies in one go and not in segments. The bad conceptualization of the good idea mars the prospects of a film that had no competition at the box office this Friday.
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The film has two sensuous beauties in Natasha and Isha Koppikar. Natasha shows her titillating figure in the very beginning. Later, she is shown as a Sati Savitri. It makes her character confusing. Isha Koppikar has a great body to show that she did in 'Company' and 'Qayamat'. But Santram Verma tries to show her acting caliber more than her skin. Verma falls flat. Sohail Khan looks an imitation of his brother Salman Khan in most of the frames. He dances like Salman. The trio lacks the chemistry that is needed to put the screen on fire. Vrajesh Hirji does too much to impress the audience. Rati Agnihotri does what Rekha did in 'Bhoot' but the end of her character is not justified.
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People like her cannot be killed so easily. Santram Verma messes with the climax by trying to end it on a happy note. Music by Anu Malik is not at all impressive, even Bindaas' song is attractive only in pieces. Background music by Amar Mohile is better than that. The most interesting thing is that every character lives alone in huge havelis without any family connection. Maybe Santram Verma has been living aloof too with the subject for too long and has forgotten to read the realities and necessities of the box office. The film doesn't have a bright future in the long run though the sleek promos may bring in crowd initially. However, it may be a losing proposition for most of the distributors.
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