EntertainmentPosted at: Jul 3 2025 5:30PM


This day That Year: Kambakkht Ishq Clocks 16 Years

Mumbai, July 3 (UNI) There's no business like showoff business. Kambakkht Ishq (KI) has plenty to show off about. Fabulous Hollywood locales, Hollywood icons like Sylvester Stallone and Brandon Routh pitching in sporting cameos in spot-on scenes written in a completely endearing 'con' text . And above all KI has cracking hissing snarling and smouldering chemistry between the film's luscious lead pair.
Is there a more glamorous couple than Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor in filmdom today? Nah! Forget it. Not possible .Even when they're ready to bite off each others' heads, call each other canines, and scream like a double-banshee delight at a horror festival, there is just no way the compatibility of the combo can be encored, even by them.
Indeed if the supreme silliness of the plot in KI is bearable, it's because of Akshay and Kareena's glorious goofiness. The lead pair, never in better form shape size and looks, gets into the grandly caricaturish groove fearlessly effortlessly and convincingly, creating the kind of blitzkrieg of belligerence that was last witnessed when Harry met Sally. And they heaved happy ever after.
For Akshay and Kareena it's hate at first sight. They pass sexist remarks about the opposite sex loud enough for the other to hear. They bitch and carp about the vices of being of the opposite sex in a world polluted by bigotry and gender bias. Goodness, these two despicable creatures deserve each other!
KI is the kind of gender-bender that never embraces the tender. The battle of the sexes is loud and aggressive, designed to create a cacophony of conflicts that leave us reeling in stupefied embarrassment. Sure, we've seen other films about a goofy man and stuck-up woman who can't stand each other. But none so engrossed their own self-serving hemispheres
Seemingly rudderless, often risque and coolly risky in it audacity KI is a film that doesn't endear itself with its plotting. It's all about the money, Honeyji. It's all about the styling often at the cost of what most moviegoers think of as substance. But there is no real 'substance-abuse' in KI, trust me on that. The wispy slim storyline matches the female cast's waistline while the gasbag gags are as top heavy and cheesy as the goofy grin that Akshay wears like a second skin. The veneer of vicious vivacity seldom falls off, though admittedly some episodes wear us out with their svelte stiletto-in-the-art jibes at that old and baffling thing called the man-woman relationship.
The film is a no-holds-barred gender war, tangy spicy and supremely smug in its silliness. And as Akshay's character comes to a realisation that there's more to love than scoring the audience comes to the realisation that films about cads with claws who get entrapped in a love clause (remember Ranbir recently in Bachna Ae Haseenon) have their utility when you're looking for an evening of farce and fun with no strings attached (to the bikini binge that eventuates, that is).
The farce fest miraculously manages to sustain the mood of zany fun most of the way. Some episodes like Boman Irani's cameo appearance as a shrink whose couch gets into an ouch mode, are flatter than Kareena and Amrita Arora's tummies. But as far as eye-catching locales and protagonists go, KI goes a long way. The Akshay-Kareena pair just makes you stare. And if you are into clothes shoes and accessories you could spend an evening with KI just checking out what Kareena wears, and how well she carries it off.
Akshay Kumar's comic timing has now been honed to a fine art. He invests his completely caddish character's personality with a frank and fearless arrogance that borders on megalomania but finally settles on being plainly outrageous.
Kareena matches him step by step, Jimmy Choos and all. Just because she looks like a million bucks doesn't mean her performance is cosmetic too. Kareena satirical expressions as a man-hater are to die for.
Debutant director Sabir Khan knows how to bring out the 'beast' in his characters. He milks the outrageous situations for all their mirth and then moves on heaving and panting, to the next level of buffoonery. Somewhere in this jokey jugglery binge of gender wars and slender storytelling Sylvester Stallone pops up for two of the film's most arresting sequences. But 'Superman' Brandon Routh is utterly wasted. May the 'farce' be with him.
Where else but in Bollywood would Routh come across such a farcical feast designed in a slick-flick format where the completely obnoxious hero is operated on by a super-model who moonlights as a surgeon and leaves a watch in the hero's stomach? The watch chimes a Hindu mantra into Akshay Kumar's ears ad nauseum. He's of course maddeningly annoyed. We're by then beyond annoyance.
Kareena seemed pretty kicked about working with Stallone. "Any actress would give her right arm to do such a glamorous glitzy role. And I got to work with Sylvester Stallone. I couldn't believe when he said he knew my work. I remember Saif was shooting in San Francisco. He flew down to LA to see my shooting with Stallone. I remember Saif was introduced to Stallone as a member of a royal family and the son of a former Indian cricket team. I remember our lunches. We had Indian kebabs. Stallone loved it. I'll never forget it. He had heard of my grandfather (Raj Kapoor). He wanted to see my movies. I gave him DVDs of Jab We Met and Omkara."
When Akshay Kumar got to know that Sylvester Stallone would be a part of his starrer Kambakkht Ishq he excitedly told this writer, "When in my early years I was working in Bangkok, I had three posters in my room, that of Sridevi, Bruce Lee and Sylvester Stallone."
Coincidentally, Meri Biwi Ka Jawaab Nahin in which Akshay had the privilege of working with Sridevi, completed 20 years on July 2. Apparently, Stallone charged through the roof for his august presence in the July turkey. Akshay Kumar played a stuntman in Hollywood (the original Fall Guy) and Stallone was one of the Hollywood icons he played body-double to in the film. Never mind if Akshay’s build was nothing like Stallone’s. Before shooting together the two bonded off the sets.
Apparently, Stallone got interested in Akshay's work and even showed interest in watching Kumar's films. The film was a no-holds-barred gender war, tangy spicy and supremely smug in its silliness. As Akshay's character came to the realisation that there's more to love than scoring, we the audience come to the realisation that films about cads with claws who get entrapped in a love clause have their utility when you're looking for an evening of farce and fun with no strings attached.
As far as eye-catching locales and protagonists go, Kambakkht Ishq goes a long way. The Akshay Kumar - Kareena Kapoor Khan pair just make you stare. If you are into clothes shoes and accessories you could spend an evening with Kambakkht Ishq just checking out what Kareena wears, and how well she carries it off.
(The writer is a veteran film journalist. Views expressed are personal.)
UNI XC NST SSP
Tags: #This day That Year: Kambakkht Ishq Clocks 16 Years
More News

Telangana Govt to introduce stricter anti-piracy measures for film industry: FDC Chairman

03 Jul 2025 | 8:27 PM

Hyderabad, July 3 (UNI) The Telangana government is taking decisive steps to curb piracy and strengthen the state’s film industry, said Film Development Corporation (FDC) Chairman Dil Raju.

see more..

Paradise launches NH44-themed kebab festival, celebrating India’s culinary diversity

03 Jul 2025 | 7:47 PM

Hyderabad, July 3 (UNI) Popular food chain Paradise Food Court Private Limited has launched a unique NH44 Kebab Festival, offering a delicious journey of kebabs inspired by the regions along India’s longest highway — from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.

see more..

Aamir Khan to grace 16th Indian Film Festival of Melbourne as chief guest

03 Jul 2025 | 5:46 PM

Mumbai, July 3 (UNI) Bollywood star and filmmaker Aamir Khan is set to take centre stage as the chief guest at the 16th Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM), scheduled to run from August 14 to 24, 2025.

see more..

The first glimpse of Namit Malhotra's film Ramayana unveiled

03 Jul 2025 | 5:38 PM

Mumbai, July 3 (UNI) The cinematic adaptation of the Indian epic "Ramayana", helmed by visionary filmmaker Namit Malhotra, revealed its first look today across nine major cities of India, simultaneously accompanied by a striking billboard takeover at New York's iconic Time Square, marking the global launch of what promises to be an epic cinematic universe.

see more..

Guru Randhawa unveils high-energy track 'Sirra' from his album 'Without Prejudice'

03 Jul 2025 | 5:37 PM

Mumbai, July 3 (UNI) Guru Randhawa has dropped a new foot-tapping number titled 'Sirra' from his latest album 'Without Prejudice'.

see more..