Kya Dilli Kya Lahore Movie Reviews

An emphatic directorial debut by Vijay Raaz. Do yourself a favour. Buy a ticket for this one! It is not often than you find people walk out of the theater in silence. Happens either when they don’t know how to react, or are just bowled over with emotions. As I left the hall after watching Kya Dilli Kya Lahore I was one among majority who walked out, silent.

The entire film is a conversation between the two men, with just two more characters appearing. It is beautifully sparse and keeps us more than just interested. We are involved. We begin the viewing cautiously, watching carefully to see if the Indian is a bad guy, or the Pakistani. The film allows our prejudice to take its course and then shows us our own idiocy, through the two other characters who appear.

The film basically brings out the struggle and pain of people from Pakistan and Indian who long to be united at one undivided land.

As an actor Vijay Raaz seldom lets down a film. Here he takes on the added responsibility of direction. He keeps the proceedings even-paced and free of techno-generated upheavals. The two actors are mostly left to their own devices. The end-result is a film of tremendous warmth and wisdom.

What’s Good: A poignant and humane story contrary to the antagonist ones we hear of India & Pakistan. What’...

An Indian and a Pakistani soldier stationed at the border battle, bicker and bond over their twisted fate caused by India’s bitter and bloody partition

At close to two hours, ‘Kya Dilli Kya Lahore’ is slow paced and might not interest those who want lots of action and love roller coaster ride through the story.

The idea behind Kya Dilli Kya Lahore is to once again point out the futility of war as well as highlight why human comes before being. And Vijay Raaz accomplishes that to a reasonable extent in his first filmmaking effort.

You know exactly how it’s going to end, you know this is technically a partition story set within the simplistic confines of a low-budget (anti) war drama. Yet, it is riveting to witness their body language, their lapse in ideologies, when facing the wrong end of a smoking Rifle. These are two artistes at the top of their game, engaging us in a battle that is not theirs to fight.

One of the finest things about ‘KDKL’ is Gulzar’s poetic prologue. Without the usual trappings of filmi fanfare, this story has its heart in the right place – pure and undivided. Like pre-partition brotherhood.

When it comes to India versus Pakistan we tend to get slightly jazbati- be it a cricket match or a movie. Speaking about movies, there are quite few films from Bollywood that centers around patriotism. However, it’s very rare that you get to see a film, which very subtly illustrates the Partition of India or nationalism.

The story is arresting, but one wishes actor-director Vijay Raaz’s direction was as strong as his performance. The storytelling is clever but falters on the pacing. As it is, the film gives us only two central character and two peripheral ones. The location remains essentially the same. It is then up to the editor and director to make each scene striking.

Kya Dilli Kya Lahore is not only well-intentioned it is well made too. Certainly worth the 100 minutes.

KYA DILLI KYA LAHORE is a one-time watch mainly for its offbeat storyline.

The setting is right, so is the intention. But alas, the film doesn’t really go anywhere, and that’s a pity.

The film Kya Dilli Kya Lahore directed by Vijay Raaz himself witnesses fine performance by both Vijay and Manu while, the story though slightly stretching is capable of hitting the heart straight.

Kya Dilli Kya Lahore demands that we stay interested in only two actors for almost two hours. Under any circumstances, that’s a tall order.

It is static and goes around in a loop. There’s something about the film that reminds you of the Bosnian Oscar winner ‘No Man’s Land’, which was a poignant reminder of the futility of war, and the tragic waste of human lives. ‘Kya Dilli Kya Lahore’ had the potential to be as powerful, maybe more, because it is our story. So many people still remember Partition as if it was yesterday, and so many people have still have such strong familial connections on either side of the border.

With a better script and a better storyline the film would have been able to make a better impression.

Vijay Raaz makes his directorial debut with this movie and while his intent of getting behind the steering wheel of an off-beat film needs to be applauded, his content and execution needs questioning. Even if it had to be a story about the partition and its aftermath, things could have been spiced up with more characters, instead of seeing just four performers in all for the duration of over 90 minutes.

Kya Dilli Kya Lahore may be a slow film but its climax will certainly touch you. Its poetic optimism will stay with you for long. Watch the film for Gulzar’s poetry, the performance of its lead pair and an amazing climax. Avoid it if you love pace and action. This one offers neither a fast-paced story nor is there any blood and gore.

…deserves to be watched, but the filmed version is still a gem that needed a little more polish. The producer, Karan Arora, would do well to think about backing a stage adaptation of the same story and touring the country with the same cast. All he needs to do is fire Shandilya.

…is too class-appealing to create any impact whatsoever at the box-office. Its dull promotion will only add to its problems. Flop!

ven at this modest running length, Kya Dilli Kya Lahore feels stretched and half-baked, less of a big-screen experience and better suited to an intimate stage production. The accusations and counter-accusations traded by Samarth and Rehmat—much of it in un-subtitled Punjabi—aren’t particularly insightful about the intractable problems plaguing both nations, while the overwhelming sense of nostalgia for an undivided India doesn’t do the Pakistanis justice.