Alexander Graham's "bell" heard by Lalwani-Hello,who is it?

Cinema as a medium has evolved over the years and presently the celluloid is impregnated with conceptualised film-makers who are giving birth to varied techniques trying to design the polished way.Indian popular culture's roots lie in the temple where Nirupa Roy,Rakhee-the sonless mothers are seen battling with their emotions,and the sparks of which are found with the festivals shot during the Ramesh Sippy and Manmohan Desai era.With the onslaughts of time,Bollywood has moved on too-throwing some light on the betterment of the technical side.The last decade has seen a string of such technically advanced film-makers,the pioneer of which should go to the daring Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra whose "Aks" was way ahead of its time.
"Karthik Calling Karthik" promises to be a product on the lines of a technically advanced film by its promos but Lalwani fails to design it the tech way rather makes it handsome by editing it brilliantly.Aarti Bajaj impresses yet again after "Black Friday" and "Dev D".The use of images while showing the cast was a little amateurish considering the film which promises to be an intense one and that which exposes the bitter side of being a mental patient.The most striking part in the film is its tribute to Alexander Graham Bell:D-Vijay Lalwani choses the telephonic medium to prove that Karthik is a schizophrenic.The use of landline in the cell phone century is nicely shown by Lalwani,with facilities like loudspeaker and a recording system from where Karthik's inner mind speaks.Farhan Akhtar is naturally a gifted actor-he looks spontaneous barring the last scene where the sudden convulsion as an effect of the pills made the performance a bit weak.Deepika doesnt have much to do in the script except for lighting cigarettes and applying lipgloss-which serves as a flashback too when she misses her Karthik after having broken up.The person to watch out in this film is Ram Kapoor-his fatigued mind after shaking a leg in"Jhalak Dikhla Jaa" seems to have worked wonders in his acting skills,as Kamath-Karthik's boss.
Diseases seem to be the call of the season for the films in 2010,although Karthik comes as a breather after the so called tour of USA where the President feels proud and honoured of an individual named Rizwan Khan who manages to save people from a hurricane-i wonder whether anybody would dare to do that in reality and a murderer would never murder himself by moving to a hurricane hit area-not even if he has to fight the "jung".Going back to Vijay Lalwani-he seems freshly out of the ad-world ready to fight the big guns in the Bombay Film Industry but not everyone is a Pradeep Sarkar.The ad-film makers hasnt been commercially that successful but anyways,his treatment of the subject compared to Bollywood standards,turns out to be exquisite.His vision was clear from the outset-symbolism being the trump card-Farhan still in his "magic" cube depicts life to be seen as a three dimensional puzzle the colours of which never seem to match till he talks to the doctor in the last scene,portrayed by Shefali Shah.The rubiscube acts as that prop in the film which functions as Karthik's mind-in the process,our mind too.
The music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is catchy and you come out humming a few tunes too."Kaisi Hai Ye Udhaasi"'s sequence is aesthetically shot on the landscapes of Cochin-the raw voice of Kailash Kher would fill your heart.The other tunes-are a signature SEL sound-"Hey Ya" may remind of "Kyon!ho Gaya Na"but sounds fresh and unique.The sound design of the film is one of its main strength-done by Midival Punditz and Karsh Kale.Those under the hangover of Rizwan Khan should definitely watch this flick as one would carry Karthik back home which was not the case with the former.Editing has shaped the script and sequences in "Karthik Calling Karthik" and at one point of time,you truly wonder how does a phone work without the wire.This film would keep you worried till you know what is it?rather,who is it?is it Karthik?-