Any movie on post 911 Islamic terrorism that does not have “New York’s best brown bread” John Abraham and the delectably vacuous Katrina Kaif in a lead roles has gotten two things right straight off the bat.
Kurbaan, Karan Johar productions first venture into a world which somewhat resembles reality, gets a lot of other things correct also.
Most important of them is the atmosphere which is nowhere better established than when Avantika (Kareena Kapoor) and Ehsaan (Saif Ali Khan) move into their predominantly Asian neighborhood in New Jersey and are invited to a get-together, where the men and the women sit segregated, a certain joyless “House of Usher” type heaviness hangs in the air and silent terror can be seen in the eyes of a few of its attendees. Kurbaan builds on that, gradually ratcheting up the tension and keeping me engaged in the proceedings, something that almost all Hindi movies of late have been unable to do.
What I singularly found eerie and chilling in that part of the movie that takes place before the first big revelation [I am intentionally being slightly vague here] was the similarity in look, feel and development to that great classic “Invasion Of The Body Snatchers”, where a character in suburban America finds all those around him “turning” as a plant-based pod captures their souls, converting them into human shells with their minds controlled by the organism, with those infected remaining human and normal on the outside but vacant inside with one single motivation—-to infect and capture more humans. Originally considered as a metaphor for ideological control of a human being (both Communism as well as McCarthyism) that deprived people of their ability to independently act and think according to their own conscience, the idea is equally applicable to modern religious fundamentalism which seeks to irrevocably convert individuals into hateful shells, calm, focused and normal on the outside but controlled by what a character in the movie calls “junoon” that condones the most dastardly of crimes in a mindless robotic fashion.
Kurbaan builds on the idea of “Invasion Of the Body Snatchers”, perhaps not intentionally, creating a dramatic conflict between the zombification induced by fundamentalism and that what makes us human.
The second thing that works for the movie is the uniformly high quality of acting, with Vivek Oberoi being the only weak link and Om Puri and Kiron Kher being the strongest. The pacing is good for the most part and Anurag Kashyap’s dialogs crisp and hard-hitting, which even though it goes over the Muslim fundamentalism in response to US imperialism done-to-death angle, still retains a certain edge which makes us believe that we are listening to actual Islamic fundamentalists speaking and not actors sprouting politically-correct carefully-crafted lines that are designed to offend none—-which was the case with “New York” and a few other similarly themed movies.
Kurbaan however is not without its weaknesses—principally some lazy story-telling, the presence of one-too-many plot holes (but not nearly as many as some of my friends who criticize it think it has) and one needless “sex-scene” between yet another extensively promoted star-couple, perhaps a bit of pandering in an otherwise “heavy” movie.
Not that it can save Kurbaan as it has already been declared a flop in its first week of release. This is a tragedy though because it is head and shoulders above money-spinning tripe such as “Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani” .
This fate of Kurbaan of course fills me with dread since it implies of course that the reign of terror unleashed by Kaif-Kapoor (Ranbir)-Kumar (Akshay) is likely to continue and escalate.
The Greatbong Blog & Podcast 
First
Kurbaan flopped – coz we in India are tired of Love Jihad already
lol…the intro sentence had me in splits…I avoided watching this flick becoz i thought it would be new york 2..but your review makes me think otherwise..
he he! true… the loopholes stand out in an other wise nice movie! and speaking of the kaifs and Kumars, there is De dana dan releasing this Friday! maybe it has something to do with the fact that it is black Friday! 🙂
PS: i will be watching De Dana Dan for Katrina’s wet saree song alone!
“…because it is head and shoulders above money-spinning ripe such as “Ajab Prem Ki Gazab Kahani” .” – i think you mean tripe here GB, not ripe.
or have i missed a joke somewhere?
Typo. Thanks.
Nice review by GB. I’ll watch it this weekend though I think GB’s prefers Katrina over Kareena. 😉 By the way, the line “even though it goes over the Muslim fundamentalism in response to US imperialism”, makes me wonder – Was there any so-called US imperialism to justify Muslim fundamentalism in India starting 711 CE? In every year from the 10th century through the 18th century in India? In 1947? In 1950 in East Pakistan? In 1964? In 1971? In 1989 in Kashmir? In 2002 in Godhra?
Reading your reviews is much better than watching the movies. Thanks!
@Bengal Voice
All the Muslim fundamentalists in the movie are shown to be from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq. Saif Ali Khan is from Pakistan :). I think these countries are effected by US.
If your question had nothing to do with movie but questioning the Islamic terrorism in India, then I don’t have answer for that.
Playing devil’s advocate here but I think New York was a better film than Kurbaan – which frankly was a major let down after the many rave reviews came in calling it the best enacted movie of the year.
Kiron Kher is so over the top – its beyond over-acting to the extent its nearly funny. Vivek Oberoi seems to have forgotten all acting after the promise he showed in his first few movies (Saathiya, Company). Saif and Om puri are decent, they always are. But the story? topical, stimulating, illuminating -what utter crap.
When would they make a movie as predictable yet powerful as ” Khuda ke liye”?
@Dheeraj
Pakistan effected by US?
Afghanistan effected by US?
From 1947 to 2001, the US was tickling “their” funnybones mate.
Still, Ramzi Yousef happened, still Osama happened, still Mullah Umar happened.
Will any filmmaker actually have the guts to talk about the real “cause”.
@ Arnab
Damn man….you almost lost your body in trying to explain the winded “bodysnatcher” analogy. So much effort to explain such a simple thing 🙂
Funny though.
Hi GB:
Did you check out the Indibloggie nominations ?
Kishor
Yes I did Kishor. I tweeted about it. Once the voting link comes up I will take to my vote-grubbing mode.
Well written. I think Kareena Kapoor was brilliant in her portrayal of the character ‘Avantika Ahuja’.
What I found good:
– The love story was done and over with within the first 10 minutes of the movie and was not prolonged agonizingly for all of the first half as in most bollywood movies. It seemed to convey that the storyteller had a much bigger story to tell.
– This Jehadi group really seemed to mean business. They got the right people in place- in the right fashion- with years of planning- even blew up an aircraft as an appetizer.
Where I felt that the plot was lost:
– After all the meticulous preparation, the grand plan, involved these guys picking up backpacks with bombs in them and going around the NY subway system waiting for the bombs to explode.
– The crux of all the planning was this “Map”. They worked on this for many days, trying to figure out the NY subway system.
– They might have just caught a few illegals just off the ship and handed them the backpacks.
Man, I like the analogy you drew with the body snatcher movie…
One more thing i like in the movie was, the background music. You know between the obviously flicked parts, the heavy laden feeling was given by the tabla sound. Reminded me of taboo by Nusrat fateh ali khan in Natural born killers.
Gb, Please try to find time out of your busy schedule and watch “Jail”. I think it was another good “Bhandarkar” movie.Although I’ve lived a couple of Kilometers away from the notorious “Thane Central Jail” and had never known the plight of a “prisoner” in an Indian Jail.There have been so many good Hollywood Prison movies but very few Bollywood ones(3 deewarein comes to mind) .In that aspect,I found “Jail” to be insightful.Manoj Bajpai gives a solid performance and Neil Nitin Mukesh also ,surprisingly, does a good job.
Lol….Kurbaan hundred times better than APKGK……LOL….
I guess u put too much into the book mate..not much left in the tank now it seems…..
Kurbaan is full of gaffes and is closer to Clerk(manoj Kumar epic) than to reality……and after watching it you will realize that the only thing going kurbaan is your time and patience….
Its an absolute JOKE…I used to think New York has got to be the worst terrorism movie….but MAN!…this movie just takes the cake…..funniest is when “im shit-scared of salman” Vivek oberoi proclaims to deal with the terrorists and refuses to involve the FBI cuz he may “lose the lead”….hahahahahahahahahaha
1st- Kurbaan sucks
2nd- it sucks
and 3rd- it still sucks
Am yet to watch this movie which has been praised highly except ‘The Hindu’ .. watched ‘Ajab Prem..’ which got many stars from Mr. Rediff Revier. In this blog, the line that takes the cake is ‘Kaif-Kapoor (Ranbir)-Kumar (Akshay)! ‘.. only you can think of linking the KluKluxKlan with these hamstars!
Am yet to watch this movie which has been praised highly except ‘The Hindu’ .. watched ‘Ajab Prem..’ which got many stars from Mr. Rediff Revier. In this blog, the line that takes the cake is ‘Kaif-Kapoor (Ranbir)-Kumar (Akshay)! ‘.. only you can think of linking the KluKluxKlan with these hamstars!
Obviously I watched another movie by the same title; That one DEFINITELY sucked; Whoa, wait a minute, it had the same cast and crew, and it STILL SUCKED;
Someone mentioned Muslim fundamentalism@Godhra.
Obviously, we are talking of multiverses as expounded in Crichton’s Timeline (amongst others), coz the universe I came from didn’t have these events…
:O :O :O
Truly and completely didnt expect thsi review :O
Here .. teh story amazingly retold.. u must read it once…
http://www.thevigilidiot.com/2009/11/21/kurbaan/
You recommending a movie has a lot to say for it. Yet I dont feel inspired enough to go watch a movie about terrorism in a foreign land escalated by an ever irritating self obsessed lead pair. I guess you were spared the posters in Bombay placed all in a row, at 1meter distance on every road. Perhaps it really was meant for 7 years ago.
That said, im happy that at least the movie had semblence to a good output.
About the kaif-akshay-ranbir tussle and mediocre outputs…well! It seems India really loves its dumb women and (Im sorry I cant find an adjective for the men here) 😀
But to those who want to watch such antics – so be it.
OYE… there’s no such thing as a NEEDLESS SEX SCENE !!
(Spoilers follow-though I would suggest you read on and save your money)
Completely Disagree. You seem to want to bash New York and praise this piece of tripe. You also say this does not have plot holes. Ok-how about-
1. Saif is an international terrorist-not someone who makes garage bombs-and he has the time to romance Kareena so freely – to get a Green card
2. Last I checked the US authorities did a thorough background check before issuing Green cards-here they even have his picture. Still?
3. Kareena is the one who is called over to the US by New York University-still she is never shown going to work? Instead she potters around the house peeping into other people’s basements?
4.When Kareena is attacked by the goons for the first time, here is someone supposedly brought up in America-so what is the first phone number that should come to your mind? The phone is also conveniently placed-as is evidenced later in the scene-but no 911 call?
5.Viveik Oberoi gets a clue to the bombing of the flight-why does he not call FBI? In fact-I would think that he and his editor are guilty of obstructing a federal investigation by not sharing information of such nature
6. Viveik Oberoi’s “I will do this on my own” heroism
7. The gang members allow Viveik to walk in without any background check (seems to be the norm). If he works for a news channel, and covers news on Iraq etc, I am sure there is footage on him-and footage that the om puri team have watched
8.Kareena at the doctor’s-decides to make a call to Vivek oberoi-not to the feds-presumably to save her father’s life-!!!
9. What does happen to daddy dearest btw? Is he found dead in the bathroom the next day or does Qureshi pack up and leave
10.A subway map drawn on PAPER serves as the plan for the attack. and the paper is conveniently left in a nice place to as to be reached by anyone and everyone
Other than that-the scene where the professors snog in the staff room-eeyuck!!
New York-on the other hand-raised these issues very sensitively -however the only thing you remember is New york’s best brown bread. A lil sad.
I agree that a movie is not a theorem but a timepass-but this one masquerades as a serious movie – not a Govinda flick where plot holes are the norm!!
GB, I think this concept of the suave and sexy Muslim terrorist luring an unsuspecting demure damsel to further his ends of blowing up a few more people has been done to death now; and ya, even the premise of another Muslim coming to the rescue; Obviously. The movie uses the clichéd modern day plot of Islamic terrorism against the US but then they throw in the love angle which is as absurd as Vinod Kambli in reality TV.
My review for more…
Yes this premise though only few movies old but has now been done to death at talk shows, tv serials, blogs, chatrooms etc. Definitely Fanaa was a lot better and even New York in spite of having a log of wood as its main character was better than Kurbaan.
@Hatikvah,
I didn’t realize you existed in a parallel universe. Somehow our paths must have crossed serendipitously on this multiversal blog. 😉
Since you asked…. If you would like to know what happened in our universe, please read this:
http://www.hvk.org/articles/0203/222.html
1. Saif is an international terrorist-not someone who makes garage bombs-and he has the time to romance Kareena so freely – to get a Green card
Actually, if you paid a little attention to the movie, you would realize that the romancing of Kareena was part of his “plot” and hence no-time wasted. Om Puri says—there were other ways possible why did you choose this one? Well I think the answer is obvious. It was more fun.
2. Last I checked the US authorities did a thorough background check before issuing Green cards-here they even have his picture. Still?
The last time I checked they do a Name check which going by his assumed name would not turn up a match. They dont do facial recognition analysis of people applying for Green card because the technology for that is still not that developed.
3. Kareena is the one who is called over to the US by New York University-still she is never shown going to work? Instead she potters around the house peeping into other people’s basements?
Again from my knowledge of academic life in the US (being partially one myself), professors if they dont take class are allowed to stay at home. They dont have to sign as far as I know.
4.When Kareena is attacked by the goons for the first time, here is someone supposedly brought up in America-so what is the first phone number that should come to your mind? The phone is also conveniently placed-as is evidenced later in the scene-but no 911 call?
Accepted plot hole.
5.Viveik Oberoi gets a clue to the bombing of the flight-why does he not call FBI? In fact-I would think that he and his editor are guilty of obstructing a federal investigation by not sharing information of such nature
Yes they are. You should immediately complain to the FBI. While you are at it, please complain about brown bread also.
6. Viveik Oberoi’s “I will do this on my own” heroism
And that’s a plot hole? First time you are seeing a hero in a movie? Or a reporter trying to get fame against better judgment?
7. The gang members allow Viveik to walk in without any background check (seems to be the norm). If he works for a news channel, and covers news on Iraq etc, I am sure there is footage on him-and footage that the om puri team have watched
Not everyone who works in a news channel gets on camera. Only the presenter does.
8.Kareena at the doctor’s-decides to make a call to Vivek oberoi-not to the feds-presumably to save her father’s life-!!!
You have answered your own question.
9. What does happen to daddy dearest btw? Is he found dead in the bathroom the next day or does Qureshi pack up and leave
Maybe you should ask the FBI that also.
10.A subway map drawn on PAPER serves as the plan for the attack. and the paper is conveniently left in a nice place to as to be reached by anyone and everyone
I thought it was a map of the subway. And yes terrorists do store their stuff at home.
And yes I am sure New York was way more realistic…
Interesting reference to the film ‘The invasion of the body snatchers’. Found the film waste of time though. Couldn’t connect to any characters or discover the thrill that this thriller promised to be in its trailer.
One of the biggest plot hole is Kareena and Saif discussing how can Saif make it to US along with Kareena,
1. for that either Kareena has to be an American citizen which they clearly showed she is not.
1. she was not coming out there on H1-B on a working vis but as a student and a student cannot claim her spouse to be dependant and get him to US just like that
2. US jaakey karunga kya ? wohi jo tum India main kartey ho. Kitni sari Universities hain. Woh hum baad main sochengey ? How in the world is Saif able to
I think Kareena was an US citizen since they showed an US passport. And yes in the US, it is fairly common for a spouse of a valued faculty to get a job if the university wants to retain the faculty. And Saif here was giving evening lectures which sounds different from a tenure-track appointment.
1. Saif is an international terrorist-not someone who makes garage bombs-and he has the time to romance Kareena so freely – to get a Green card
Actually, if you paid a little attention to the movie, you would realize that the romancing of Kareena was part of his “plot” and hence no-time wasted. Om Puri says—there were other ways possible why did you choose this one? Well I think the answer is obvious. It was more fun.
2. Last I checked the US authorities did a thorough background check before issuing Green cards-here they even have his picture. Still?
The last time I checked they do a Name check which going by his assumed name would not turn up a match. They dont do facial recognition analysis of people applying for Green card because the technology for that is still not that developed.
3. Kareena is the one who is called over to the US by New York University-still she is never shown going to work? Instead she potters around the house peeping into other people’s basements?
Again from my knowledge of academic life in the US (being partially one myself), professors if they dont take class are allowed to stay at home. They dont have to sign as far as I know.
4.When Kareena is attacked by the goons for the first time, here is someone supposedly brought up in America-so what is the first phone number that should come to your mind? The phone is also conveniently placed-as is evidenced later in the scene-but no 911 call?
Accepted plot hole.
5.Viveik Oberoi gets a clue to the bombing of the flight-why does he not call FBI? In fact-I would think that he and his editor are guilty of obstructing a federal investigation by not sharing information of such nature
Yes they are. You should immediately complain to the FBI. While you are at it, please complain about brown bread also.
6. Viveik Oberoi’s “I will do this on my own” heroism
And that’s a plot hole? First time you are seeing a hero in a movie? Or a reporter trying to get fame against better judgment?
7. The gang members allow Viveik to walk in without any background check (seems to be the norm). If he works for a news channel, and covers news on Iraq etc, I am sure there is footage on him-and footage that the om puri team have watched
Not everyone who works in a news channel gets on camera. Only the presenter does.
8.Kareena at the doctor’s-decides to make a call to Vivek oberoi-not to the feds-presumably to save her father’s life-!!!
You have answered your own question.
9. What does happen to daddy dearest btw? Is he found dead in the bathroom the next day or does Qureshi pack up and leave
Maybe you should ask the FBI that also.
10.A subway map drawn on PAPER serves as the plan for the attack. and the paper is conveniently left in a nice place to as to be reached by anyone and everyone
I thought it was a map of the subway. And yes terrorists do store their stuff at home.
And yes I am sure New York was way more realistic…
anyway-I guess we agree to disagree on these two movies. I have enjoyed your writing and will continue to do so-even some of your contrarian reviews were awesome (RDB for example). but this is one which I could not refrain from commenting on.
sorry- I put my responses in brackets and they never showed up-so it looks like I copy pasted your response. not too sure why that happened-something to do with the way HTML works? not a tech guy
1. Saif is an international terrorist-not someone who makes garage bombs-and he has the time to romance Kareena so freely – to get a Green card
Actually, if you paid a little attention to the movie, you would realize that the romancing of Kareena was part of his “plot” and hence no-time wasted. Om Puri says—there were other ways possible why did you choose this one? Well I think the answer is obvious. It was more fun.
(Yes-but using women, that too of another community, and then choosing a path that is more ‘fun’ to accomplish the dark objective of Jihaad, I think, is taboo!!)
2. Last I checked the US authorities did a thorough background check before issuing Green cards-here they even have his picture. Still?
The last time I checked they do a Name check which going by his assumed name would not turn up a match. They dont do facial recognition analysis of people applying for Green card because the technology for that is still not that developed.
(err….Fingerprinting? Or maybe this is a loophole in US Security-hope the jihadists aren’t watching-else who knows even Osama might marry a US citizen, shave, and fly in…..)
3. Kareena is the one who is called over to the US by New York University-still she is never shown going to work? Instead she potters around the house peeping into other people’s basements?
Again from my knowledge of academic life in the US (being partially one myself), professors if they dont take class are allowed to stay at home. They dont have to sign as far as I know.
(Yes-and when not going to work, the best thing to do is to peep into your suspicious neighbor’s basement-especially after being told that you are pregnant. smart!!)
4.When Kareena is attacked by the goons for the first time, here is someone supposedly brought up in America-so what is the first phone number that should come to your mind? The phone is also conveniently placed-as is evidenced later in the scene-but no 911 call?
Accepted plot hole.
(phew….thanks for agreeing)
5.Viveik Oberoi gets a clue to the bombing of the flight-why does he not call FBI? In fact-I would think that he and his editor are guilty of obstructing a federal investigation by not sharing information of such nature
Yes they are. You should immediately complain to the FBI. While you are at it, please complain about brown bread also.
(not sure how to respond to that)
6. Viveik Oberoi’s “I will do this on my own” heroism
And that’s a plot hole? First time you are seeing a hero in a movie? Or a reporter trying to get fame against better judgment?
(Well. Yes. Most movies establish that the whole setup, including the police is against you. Here the entire might of the FBI is ready to support and investigate, and you want to do it on your own. That’s not heroism. that’s sheer stupidity.)
7. The gang members allow Viveik to walk in without any background check (seems to be the norm). If he works for a news channel, and covers news on Iraq etc, I am sure there is footage on him-and footage that the om puri team have watched
Not everyone who works in a news channel gets on camera. Only the presenter does.
(Agreed. That still doesn’t absolve the background check. The terrorist dude calls Viveik’s dad pretending to be from the clinic. Why not make another call and find out everything else about the guy? Or are they too busy plotting?)
8.Kareena at the doctor’s-decides to make a call to Vivek oberoi-not to the feds-presumably to save her father’s life-!!!
You have answered your own question.
(true-I have. but that’s not my point)
9. What does happen to daddy dearest btw? Is he found dead in the bathroom the next day or does Qureshi pack up and leave
Maybe you should ask the FBI that also.
(not sure how to respond to that too)
10.A subway map drawn on PAPER serves as the plan for the attack. and the paper is conveniently left in a nice place to as to be reached by anyone and everyone
I thought it was a map of the subway. And yes terrorists do store their stuff at home.
(You have a woman that is not a 100% convinced about what you’re doing. She’s hanging around the house. and you leave everything lying around, with pushpins, markers etc. smart!!)
And yes I am sure New York was way more realistic…
anyway-I guess we agree to disagree on these two movies. I have enjoyed your writing and will continue to do so-even some of your contrarian reviews were awesome (RDB for example). but this is one which I could not refrain from commenting on.
Arun,
Just a quick note. Fingerprinting matches when you have a fingerprint. It does not match with a face. Also converting non-believers by marriage and using them for the attainment of Jihad is very much par for the course. I am surprised you think that is not so.
Baba GreatBong,
Tumi tomar hariye-cho song. Kurbaan is a howler from the word go. Everyone knows it. For a difference of opinion, please refer to the reviews of Khalid Mohd, Padamja Thakore and Magik on the PFC forum.
On second thoughts, hote paare, tumi KJ-er chumo kheye naholey taka-faka kheye bhalo ekta review likhe phelecho. ( Boi-Foi likhcho, hotei ba parey)
Its hilarious to see your lame attempts at explaining this piece of garbage…..LOL
Whatever happened to the old greatbong….is Maran Johar ordering your book in bulk??
@Bengal Voice – this is not a forum to discuss the topic about which you sent me the link; I can assure you that the statements in that report are fallacious to the core; Let’s move it elsewhere, (or dump it)…
Agree with Arun, Aniket… What’s wrong with you Greatbong?? Trying an image makeover?? Is the mellowing down due to your pregnancy mood swings (your book being your baby)??
This movie is a garbage and especially so when it comes from Dharma Productions…
“Invasion of the Bodysnatchers”….thanks for reminding me of this classic – riveting and eerie. Almost kafkaesque sense of inevitable doom. Haven’t seen Kurbaan – so can’t tell you if bollywood is capable of such intensity. Shall see it, anyway.
Cheers
I only reason I remember the movie is because me and my wife had a great dinner afterwards.
????
Is the mellowing down due to your pregnancy mood swings (your book being your baby)??…LMFAO!!
that was f**ing hilarious!
@Laborer – There will be a sense of Doom alright….not Kafkaesque though ….more like Kantilal Shahesque…..
I pretty much agree with your review GB. preferred this to NY. bang on about the building up of the tension. i’m not one of those skittish women but it had me on the edge of my seat a couple of times.
@ Arun Kumar “(Yes-but using women, that too of another community, and then choosing a path that is more ‘fun’ to accomplish the dark objective of Jihaad, I think, is taboo!!)”
Dude – that is the whole killing of two birds with one stone – love jihad!!
GB , sweetheart you are breaking my heart- first the saccharine stuff on Tendulkar ( honestly that did make me gag) and now this attempt at defending pretentious nonsense of a movie. You definitely need a break.
Man you really liked the movie…to even defend it? Nice…and then you go carve apart an SRK movie.
Perspective.
Cheers,
Rahul
We want the guy who ripped RDB back!….by your current standards RDB should win the oscars….And BTW…’the high level’ of acting includes Kareena???……..Why the double standards man?…ripping into Katrina on one hand..and letting this bimbo pass under the radar….I have 5 words for you…Mai Prem Ki Diwani Hun……LOL
You have clearly lost it if you rag on Ranbir after this….theres no contest between the cousins….Kareena Acts more….a LOT more than needed…:)))
GB,
that you liked kurbaan and are justifying it is something unbelievable. as someone commented, u seem to have mellowed down. Whatever happened to the OLD GB who wud rip apart a movie with english i only read it on this site ( and use it later for my benefit 🙂 )? is it age catching up or the realization that very soon probably you too wud be a part of the so called literati glitterati (haha.. no offence dude)…
BTW – you still haven’t reviewed CC2C which had PRABHUJI..that is unforgivable!!!
My take is that ‘being different’ is not equal to ‘being good’. A watch of Departed of The Kingdom would give an idea of what Kurban could have been.
I though Kurban was more a Scary Movie version of terrorist films
🙂 agree with too many loopholes. Biggest was How much time does it take to dial 911, whenever she is in trouble she calls to random people instead of calling police.
I think the love scenes brought this movie done, the scenes were totally not needed and instead of looking sexy seemed vulgar with no chemistry whatsover.
i saw the movie.
liked it.
er, my sis-in-law sponsored the multiplex tickets.
yes, we have a multiplex in bkp. but,… its like shopper’s stop in city centre vs sri guru bastralaya in bkp!
plot has been done to death in hollywood, but for one k johar it IS something new.
the movie ran in a packed hall.
and not one cat call in the extended orange blanket scene.
i guess barrackpore agrees with MumbaiMeriJaan
None of you have pointed out that when the car carrying the body of the dead woman crashes, FBI concludes that it was being driven by only one terrorist. Oh dear..when the chase started, FBI had SEEN and TALKED to 2 persons in the car and same officers were following the car !!. Also, they would take 4-5 (!!!) days to reconstruct the face of the woman. C’mon. If I am given half face, I would reconstruct it in flat 30 mins max.
No wonder, Both Riyaz and Avantika didn’t want to call this dumb squad -;)
oh, yes!
how does a preg woman stay that slim?
grouch, grouch.
I used to think that only the political commentaries of GB suck since his political views are only of a right wing Hindu and his movie commentaris are still gr8 fun.
However looking at his review of Kurban I have to change my mind.
Why that movie is just a B grade copy of another silly Movie New York.
The lesser said about the copy of a movie like New York the better.
However I still feel the movie plot for NY is much less atrocious than Kurbaan.
The characters in Kurbaan seems to have never heard of a no called 911.Whoever has ever heard of someone who does not inform the police when he has heard of anything related to terrorism that to a voice message from the wife of terrorist himself.
That person will have to be out of the world I guess.
Really strange GB finds it closer to real life.
@ Arijit
Are you joking?
Arnab as a right wing Hindu?
What exactly is your definition of “right wing Hindu”?
@ greatbong- this movie was really crappy and your review ignores obvious plot holes. Some more plot holes:
1. Saif kills at least 4 cops when they have that accident. Couldn’t the cops trace the owner based on the VIN or something else. Plus Saif was sitting in the car. Couldnt they have found a trace of his fingerprints or the finger prints of the dead terrorist and traced him back
2. When Vivek gets a chance to talk to the FBI officer why doesn’t he just tell him about the plot instead of the “meet me tomorrow at so and so cathedral!”. He had to say just 6 words. Subway-bomb-station#1-station#2….
3. Kareena is living in the US since so many years. If she is pregnant wouldn’t at least someone try to meet her, talk to her, wont she get calls or something asking about her whereabouts
4. Why..pray..why did Vivek wait so long before informing the FBI. He knew the whole gang, the whole plot and everything there was to know. He could have just informed the FBI and turned in the story the very next day before any other news agency got a scoop into it.
5. True Vivek Oberoi might not have been on camera but even these guys know how to google stuff. If he is a reporter he surely must have written something sometime in his life and which must have been published online.
6. How could the terrorists involve someone in such a huge plot without some kind of background check. The least they could have done is follow him covertly for a week and check his whereabouts
7. FYI facial imaging is now used very much at all US port of entries
8. So Kareena was giving all the information to Vivek and not to the feds to save her father, right? Did she think that they would let her father live if the plot was revealed by someone else and not her. If left alive she would tell her father and her father could tell the Indian police about this guy and have him arrested-ofcourse expecting the Indian police to do something is a bit of an assumption here.
9. The reason Kareena gave for having to return to the US was that the University wanted her to start working once again. By this i think they wanted her to start with her classes again. If she just wanted to sit at home and do research she could have done that in India also.
To conclude this was a very poorly made movie and your review for some reason is very partial and unnecessarily praises the movie.
Hatikvah wrote: “blah blah blah.. the topic about which you sent me the link; I can assure you that the statements in that report are fallacious to the core…. blah blah blah”
My friend, of course, of course… I think I would definitely trust your day-dreamed assurances rather than believing a reputed magazine like “India Today” whose report/article’s archived link I sent you earlier.
Of course, sitting in your hallucinated fantasy world, you will also seek to assure me that the Hindu Holocaust in Bengal never happened (and is not happening as we speak) and that all the facts compiled in the online book (linked to my name above) are fallacious to the core. And the sucker that I am, I will fully believe you. 😉
Kurbaan was a great movie to watch after all.
I feel bad that it flopped,. I enjoyed watching it.
Just a little thing though: Saif Ali gets a job in NYU just like that – no publications, no tenure track, no recommendations…….
http://www.4shared.com/file/159506039/39b1daec/Kurbaan3.html
a better kurbaan. Do check the link out which shows the loopholes in the screenplay as pointed out by Arun earlier in a funny way!
and even the multiplex audience hated kurbaan that shows something! it’s a below average movie and have Dharma productions paid you some money for the review like the bought The Times of India to do a full page special in the city edition and a rating of 3.5!! 😉
Too many loopholes – the biggest being that she never once calls the cops, nor does Vivek Oberoi. Cinemetography was great though.