Krrish 3

In this boring clone of the Hollywood superhero movie, the vamp steals the show

The face-to-face between the superhero and villain in Krrish 3 has a remarkable similarity to the same conflict in the Superman film, Man of Steel. There, a Kryptonian leader comes down to earth to do battle in New York City with his planetary kin, now a hero of Earth. In this film, the villain, Kaal (Vivek Oberoi), holed up in some snow-covered mountain, turns up in Mumbai and, likewise, destroys thousands of square feet of expensive real estate in deadly combat with Krrish.

Thanks to special effects, all slums in Mumbai are deleted. The city is sanitised. In fact, the first superheroic feat by Krrish (Hrithik Roshan)—bringing down the front wheels of an aircraft with malfunctioning landing gear—gives you a lovely aerial view that tells you that we have finally caught up with Shanghai.

Such rescue acts by the masked crusader have an appealing innocence about them and there could have been more of the same. Instead, the film switches lanes to the bizarre story of a killer virus from Namibia that suddenly spreads in Mumbai. A message comes to Krrish’s father, the brilliant scientist Rohit Mehra (also played by Hrithik), that Kaal Laboratory, location unknown, has an antidote. When it arrives, Mehra discovers that both the virus and the antidote have been made in the same lab.

Unfortunately, the film has no time for observations on greedy and unscrupulous pharmaceutical companies that profit on disease. Family matters are more important. Mr Kaal has that very special DNA that makes him invincible, just like Krrish. How did he inherit it? The convoluted plot twists that follow turn this film into a big boring Hollywood clone.

Still, the mutiny of one mutant deserves mention. Kaya (Kangna Ranaut) is a slithering creation of Kaal Laboratory. She turns herself into Krrish’s wife (Priyanka Chopra) to deceive and destroy him. Instead, she falls in love and steals the picture.

Hrithik Roshansuperherovamp