Positives
- Hrithik Roshan's performance. He's endearing. You see Rohit, a mentally challenged adult, on screen, not Hrithik Roshan the superstar.
- Novel storyline. How often do you see Bollywood tread the path of science fiction where the protagonist is not a supernormal hulk capable of everything under the sun?
- Superb locales. It is eye-soothing for an urban audience weary of smoke belchers and logjams.
- Screenplay and dialogues. The latter are conversational, the jokes are something you would normally find the funny man in your office or class cracking.
- The songs. Rajesh Roshan's music wafts into your ears and stays there for a long time.
- The kids who double up as Rohit's friends. Their comic timing is spontaneous and they blend integrally with the story.
Negatives
- Jaadu aka the little blue thing that director Rakesh Roshan was tomtoming. A big letdown. It is plasticky and does not exude life. Not a patch on the believable aliens Hollywood regularly dishes out.
- The spaceship. Can't believe they hired Independence Day special effects guys for this.
- Production quality. Glitches that stand out like a sore thumb, especially when the cops and scientists try and succeed in capturing Jaadu.
- Preity Zinta's outfits. They are skimpy all right, but you are left wondering what is there that the friendly neighbourhood tailor could not have done.
- Rekha's character. For all her love for Rohit, her passivity is a dampener. She keeps oscillating between the traditional Bollywood sob sob sniff sniff mother and the new-age mom who supports her son through thick and thin.
- Prem Chopra as the collector of Kasauli, Mukesh Rishi as the honest cop, and Johnny Lever as the loud Sindhi constable.
In sum
A film well worth watching. Hrithik alone is worth the price of your ticket.
Look out for R Swaminathan's complete review of Koi... Mil Gaya on rediff.com in a few hours.
