A Simple Complicated Love Story. Review on Katti Batti

Story of a dedicated couple in a live-in relationship and their abrupt break-up.

The Title ‘Katti Batti’ had nothing to do with the Story which I felt was a total crap.

Story: He is serious, she is not. He wants commitment but she wants time-pass. Madhav Kabra(Imran Khan) and Payal(Kangana Ranaut) are studying in Ahmedabad and put up in a hostel. Payal is a modern high profile chic whose father is a doctor and mother runs 150 NGO’s but now they are divorced.  She is a free girl with ever changing goals, has travelled to London, New York, Spain and has over 2500 friends on Facebook.

Madhav also known as Maddy is a boring character from Mumbai who has travelled couple of places including Goa and barely has 500 friends on Facebook. He is pursuing Architecture and deeply in love with Payal.  After finishing studies Maddy and Payal shift to Mumbai and move into a rented flat as live-in couple. Their relationship carries on till 5 years after which for unknown reasons Payal leaves Maddy.  Heart-broken and depressed, Maddy cannot figure out the difference between a beer and phenyl bottle thus landing him in the hospital. Maddy’s family and friends assume it was a suicide attempt and advise him to forget Payal and move on in life.

He is reminded all the time that Payal was undeserving and a chaalu girl which Maddy is unable to accept.  His hunt for Payal leads him to Delhi where he learns that she is getting married. He lands up at the venue to disrupt the marriage and is put behind bars.  Maddy’s sister bails him out and later he realizes that she was in the know all the while where Payal was and the reason for their break-up.

Plot: Katti Batti is a poorly scripted movie. 3/4th of the film is in flashback.  The plot is superficial, impractical and unconvincing.  It is shown as if the whole world revolves around the character ‘Maddy’ to please him and protect him.  The entire drama enacted to hide a simple truth from ‘Maddy’ is a waste and the viewer is taken for a ride till the end of the movie. When the truth unfolds, one wonders how come he or she was duped into watching such a trashy movie.  The comedy was bland and the plot a drag without anything worthwhile to take away.

Cast:  Kangana Ranaut leads the show. She puts her best foot forward and delivers a powerful performance.  Imran Khan is not a versatile actor with no depth in his acting. His performance is ordinary & superficial in all movies including this one. He is the only actor who shamelessly delivers a serious dialogue with a smile.  Manasvi Mamgai(remember her in Action Jackson) looked glamorous & gorgeous as Maddy’s office colleague.

Songs: There were good numbers ‘Lip to Lip de Kissiya’, ‘Sarfira’ and ‘Sau Aasoo’ which had meaningful lyrics and nicely picturized but found its placement in the wrong movie.

Direction: A good director guides the viewer into effectively exploring the plot. Katti Batti leaves the viewer confused for more than half of the movie.  The flashbacks were incoherent and the drama senseless. Maddy’s quest to find out the truth from his and Payal’s friends is confusing giving two different narratives with each one blaming the other for the fights without establishing which one is true. This is the second consecutive movie release of Nikhil Advani in as many weeks which only reveals his deteriorating skills at directing.

Emotional Moment: A fight at the airport leads to Maddy destroying the Air Tickets and Payal is left to fend for herself. This is the last time they see each other until later towards the climax.

Effective Comedy: There are only a handful effective comedy scenes - Maddy shows off in front of the college crowd with Payal riding pillion when he fails to kick-start his bike. Another one is when he protrays himself as a gay to Devika(Manasvi Mamgai) to avoid her at workplace.  Rest of the so called comedy scenes are a disgrace.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge(DDLJ) Vs Devdas: How many remakes of ‘DDLJ’? None.  How many of ‘Devdas’? You know it, and the reason is to cash-in and exploit majority of the masses who are broken hearted. The Director wants to convey this to you through a Rock Band FOSLA – Frustrated One Sided Lovers Association.

Pros: Kangana Ranaut, Manasvi Mamgai, Cinematography, Kangana’s tight slap on Imran

Cons: Haphazard editing, Poor dubbing, Sloppy plot, Inappropriate Title of the Movie

Conclusion: What you have seen in the promotional trailers are the best picked scenes from the film and it does not offer anything more.  The plot could have been improved without having to fake out the unnecessary drama which came across ridiculous.  The script was faulty, boring and nothing fresh that you have not seen before. Kangana Ranaut’s performance stands out and yet it is wasted due to the careless script. The movie is not worth recommending and is strictly for Kangana fans.