When the trailer to Kaalakaandi first came out I saw a couple of comments saying how this will be just another Delhi Belly.
And while initially, I had my reservations, since it is quite common actually for the debut movie of a director to have heavy influence from their previous works, after watching all the clips and trailer, I am thinking otherwise.
In fact, not only do I think that Kaalakaandi is not a Delhi Belly 2.0 but it seems to have a unique and fresh concept that has not really been touched before.
Delhi Belly was a pretty iconic film and it is inevitable that this movie will be compared with it, but I also think we should not look at Kaalakaandi with such a mindset, yet.
How Is Kaalakaandi Different From Delhi Belly?
Let us take a minute to see the similarities between the two movies before focusing on the differences.
The only things that I can see Delhi Belly and Kaalakaandi sharing would be the director who was also the writer of Delhi Belly and the presence of Vijay Raaz and Kunal Roy Kapoor.
However, for me, that is where the similarities end while the differences clearly place these 2 movies at opposing sides.
Delhi Belly as a genre was a crack movie, that is, it did not really have much of a motive or concrete plot and was more a case of domino-effect comedy.
Delhi Belly also had a bigger focus on the comic aspect and could be called a comedy movie especially with Vir Das giving some good bits.
Kaalakaandi, on the other hand, seems to have a legitimate plot and direction that the creators want to bring to the screen.
Read More: Kaalakaandi Will Make You Empathise With Saif’s Insecurities, Desires, and Imaginations
The story of a very normal and nothing extraordinary guy getting cancer and then spiraling down into a lunacy is a good concept that us millennials can relate to. The ending scenes in Kaala Doreya song where Saif’s character has hallucinations of his hand burning the girl’s hand are implying his dark thoughts and how he feels like he is spreading darkness to something good.
The fact that any moment our life can change and even if we don’t do anything wrong, bad things can happen to us seems to be a big part of the movie.
The movie also seems like the combination of different storylines all connected by one character, that is, Saif Ali Khan’s.
Kunal Roy Kapoor’s character looks to be an average guy who wants this girl but does not really have the guts to stand up to her when she takes advantage of him.
Akshay Oberoi and Amyra Dastur’s characters seem like an average couple about to get married but due to some mistakes have to face certain uncomfortable realities. The issues of cheating, then being honest about it (as seen in various song clips) are very relatable issues for the current generation. Not really Delhi Belly 2.0.
Vijay Raaz and Deepak Dobriyal’s characters seem to represent the crazed ambition many of us have to make it big by any means.
To me, the biggest difference between the movies would be the relatability factor. Almost all the characters I have mentioned can be either us or ones that we all have known at some point or another in our life.
We have all come across cheaters, overambitious people or even those who are extremely rigid only to lose their mind over one thing going wrong.
So if anyone says that Kaalakaandi is the next Delhi Belly I would have to respectfully say no, it is not. Kaalakaandi deals with very real and basic issues that we have all faced or will face while also dealing with grandiose subjects like life and death.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Wikipedia, YouTube, YouTube
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