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know about split personality, a good movie must watch it. very good direction and story line ...

know about split personality, a good movie must watch it. very good direction and story line

Part-office romance part-psychological study, Karthik Calling Karthik never quite succeeds in striking a consistent tone. Despite its promising premise, the film ultimately fails to work because of a clumsy screenplay that doesn`t know which way to go. Despite its snail-like pace, you are hopeful the film will culminate in a thrilling discovery, but the central conceit is a disappointing letdown, not to mention impossibly far-fetched.

Karthik, the proverbial loser, would have passed his life unnoticed but for the phone call which changed his life one early morn. The caller, also calling himself Karthik, teaches our hero how to get the top job, the hot chick, the happening life, until our hero angers him...Is it downhill after that?

For all those who crave something `different` in Hindi films, KCK is a welcome break. Vijay Lalwani offers a script that`s complex as well as multi-layered. As a director, he makes a commendable start. His depiction of both the Karthiks -- the passive and the aggressive one -- is brilliant. The first half of the film is loaded with intensity and edge-of-the-seat drama -- Lalwani maintains the tempo rather well. The integral portions are well-sketched -- right from the conversations between the two Karthiks to the hero`s radical metamorphosis to his romance with Shonali -- it`s all believable. The important point to be noted is that the director doesn`t add any frills to his story -- he isn`t afraid to showcase a flawed hero nor does he offer justifications for any of his actions.

Dude seems to be in desperate need of Cinkara (Hamdard ka tonic, anyone?). But this is Farhan`s production. And he`s all about indelible charisma, hip aesthetics and urban wit. While the easygoing charm and wall decor is spot on, absence of crisp humour is conspicuously felt all through its loitering 16 reels. Having said that, it`s imperative to remember this is a Vijay Lalwani film. The first-time director is the strength or weakness behind its story, screenplay, dialogue and direction. If you view this with the expectations of a Farhan caper, you`re doing both of them great disservice. In other words, herbal tonic is out of question. Instead Karthik starts receiving strange calls from another Karthik who promises to help him attain everything that is rightly his -- power, money and love.

One doesn`t want to challenge the behavioural patterns of a person with a certain disorder, but when it comes to the big screen, when you are narrating a story on celluloid, you need to do a lot of spoon-feeding and make it look convincing. In this case, unfortunately, the finale is just not convincing and therefore, acts as a spoilsport. Meet Karthik [Farhan Akhtar], an introvert by nature and shy by choice. Karthik suffers with huge confidence issues and is miserable at his average job that yields less than average results. His boss [Ram Kapoor] treats him like dirt. Shonali [Deepika Padukone], his colleague, who he secretly loves, doesn`t even know that he exists. Karthik is a loser. He knows it. He accepts it.