Kaalidhar lives with two younger brothers, the older one’s wife, and a sister. He is one of those hapless people who are tolerated until they are useful, and when that comes to an end, a Kumbh mela visit becomes the route for a heartless abandonment.
The film is a copy of the Tamil original K D, with some culture-specific differences built in for changes in location and language, starting with the fact that Abhishek Bachchan’s Kaalidhar is more middle-aged than straight-up old. That his child-like innocence and lack of guile could be the result of a medical infirmity, as much as his own nature is left for us to judge: his hands shake, his gait is not very firm, and he looks lost more often than not, unless he’s wolfing his favourite dish, a heaped plate of biryani.
Eight-year-old Ballu (Daivik Baghela), a street-smart survivor, comes to his rescue. He’s an orphan, also abandoned by his folks as a baby. He has enough rudimentary education, gleaned from a kindly teacher who uses chalk-and-talk and a blackboard under a village tree, to get by. From now on, Ballu declares to a bemused Kaalidhar, you will be known as K D, even if by acknowledging the abbreviated form, nothing changes.
The film wants you to fall in love with this unlikely couple as they wind their way down dimly-lit pathways of the rural countryside in Madhya Pradesh, and the bustle of melas and nautankis, dodging the family members pursuing Kaalidhar-who-is-laapata, as well as Subodh (Mohammad Zeeshaan Ayyub), of the lost-and-found department, who has been tasked to find him.
You do, but only with one of the duo. Even though he looks older than eight, Daivik, a wide smile lighting up his face, capable of warmth and mischief in the same breath, is a natural. After the initial scenes, when he is acting out, he settles into a rhythm which makes their journey somewhat palatable: it is Abhishek who struggles to match up.
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I suppose if his child co-star wasn’t such a sparkler, it wouldn’t have shown up the contrast so much. Bachchan is a game trier — he’s been consistently trying his hand at different kinds roles — as he goes about forging a parallel, character-driven path. There’s an earnestness to his K D which lands in the endearing space in a couple of scenes, but there’s also effort: except for some patches, especially when he is reunited with a former love Meera (Nimrat Kaur, in a special appearance), when the real AB comes to the fore, your gaze rests much more willingly on young Ballu.
Kaalidhar Laapata movie cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Daivik Baghela, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, Nimrat Kaur
Kaalidhar Laapata movie director: Madhumita
Kaalidhar Laapata movie rating: 2 stars
