AK vs AK Review - Overindulgent, but OK!

AK vs AKOn NetflixDirectorVikramaditya MotwaneCastAnil Kapoor Anurag KashyapRatingFilm buffs youll often notice use the word meta to describe some works with such seriousness that you sense it must be something so deeply intellectualmdashlike metaphysics maybemdashrendering it boring perhaps What does meta really mean A selfaware exercise in selfreferencingmdashjust a film about a film loaded with irony for instancemdasha comment on itselfRight from the get go AK vs AK is therefore as much a clockwork thriller with a receding timeline like Anil Kapoor in the Indian 24 as Beyond Two Ferns The Movie 2019 is a movie Or Borat is a documentary Or Curb Your Enthusiasm is a reality seriesIt is and it is so not The fact of hanging in that balance of whats real and fictional suspends audiences into disbelief and belief at the same time Which is part of the fun Way too many Hindi movies have had portions youd call meta in their own rightCheck out the trailer of AK vs AK hereThe fact of hammering it in every shot scene and sequence over close to two hours titling it after the lead actors who are also the lead characters makes AK vs AK a unique desi picmdash directed by Vikramditya Motwane Lootera Trapped Udaan Indias very own Sidney Lumet who simply never repeats himselfAt the centre of this darkish mockumentary are the self centred lives of AK no 1 Bollywood star Anil Kapoor and AK No 2 filmmaker Anurag Kashyap with a world around them that sort of pushes them to be the selfobsessed creatures they areThis is also quite in line with how celebrities are anyway perceived as fictions The argument to quote an old Granta magazine being that they are media inventions with amplified distorted or invented parts of their lives assembled for our benefitmdashand made familiar to us through the mediaWhats the first thing youre likely to do if Anil Kapoor actually showed up asking for help on the street Probably take a selfie But Anil Kapoor is indeed in need of helpmdashlooking for his daughter Sonam whos been abducted He walks around often across live locations seeking her out while Bombay cabbies and pedestrians look onWhat must he do while hes at it Dance to One two ka four four two ka one because his name is Lakhan Curious to know if this really happened would it play it out any differently Good questionYou cant tell anymore between the public and private selves That Anil Kapoor is also starring in a film here with a camera instructed to be on throughoutmdashcapturing reality as if it was fictionmdashmakes this a film within a film within a film Youll like at least one of these films Or all three as a result since theyre one and the sameDocufiction involving a reallife director first reminded me of Abbas Kiarostamis Persian masterpiece Close Up 1990 about Mohsen Makhmalbaf But over here the director is the smooth criminal Anurag Kashyap plays the hardened mastermind whos abducted Anils daughter to teach him a lesson and film his plight over a night alongsideAlso ReadAK Vs AK Director Vikramaditya Motwane Secure Enough To Make Fun Of ThemselvesHow are you supposed to digest any of this Youre not The character sketches and cameos are meant to somehow guide you in that directionmdashthe fact that the backstories of both Anil and Anurag are seemingly true as we know them to be and we see them on screen Including issues between them in the past that played out in the press over a movie they were once meant to do together and that Anil dropped out ofFrankly past the essential 15 minutes of establishing their roles the exaggerated acrimony between AK and AK appears way too juiced out for satire to work just as well They border on parody then slip into overindulgence and often overstay welcome even if thats the pointThat the two actors on screen playing themselves perform all of it still with remarkable seriousness and a straight face is commendable Besides that trolling your own selves in public like this might be the bravest thing any actor has done on screen lately As a reasonably close observer which is what journalists tend to be Ive always loved Anil and Anurag as they aremdashwhich is what they roughly playmdasheven if its not in real life but is closest to itCant help but think though that if these were not the times of social media where access to celebrities is infinite and instant on Instagrammdashhow incredible the shock value would be if the stars of yore mythologised beyond imagination say Dilip Kumar or Shammi Kapoor or directors Guru Dutt or Bimal Roy played these lead parts Alas there were no digital cameras then impossible to do this otherwiseOutside of casual voyeurism boxed into a genre flick what are you supposed to make of this spoof of a spoof showbizcelebrity lives Thats thing about stuff thats metamdashyou gotta look beyond what you seeFor instance an AK Anurag who represents resentment and bitterness of having come up the hard way The other AK Anil standing in for the arrogance of a fading elite in a world thats changed altogether One AK is showing the other AK his place literally Is there more Well a movie like this is supposed to be conversation starter Go find your own metaphorAlso ReadAnil Kapoor I Shamelessly Approached Anurag Kashyap For FilmKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news