AK vs AK distribution: Anil Kapoor, Anurag Kashyap
Director AK vs AK: Vikramaditya Motwane
Rating AK vs AK: Two and a half stars
A “flop” director. A successful star for a long time. And a story that is both real and unreal, borrowing from the real-life characters of the two main protagonists: Anurag Kashyap and Anil Kapoor, the former crazy, crazy, crazy movie creator; the latter, amazingly suitable, still works, is still required.
An early turnaround, involving a kidnapping and coercion filmed on camera, needs to suspend distrust: The Kashyap we know could really be behind the act; can Kapoor, always known for his civility, really be such a boor? Or are they the two hyper-hypo-real versions of them?
Motwane’s film is not just a meta. It’s meta-meta, especially when some parts hit too close to the mark, and others are simply appealing. Overnight, no one can become a star, unless your name is Kapoor, Anurag smiles at him, startling Anil. This line, about the amazing longevity of Kapoors and Khans, is well known. But we also know that Anil had to work hard for his success. And would AK Jr ever say that to AK Sr. in his face?
Another major turn, which comes much later in the film, forces us to look back and question our perceptions. Can Anil, whom I met as an on-screen hero (a whole list of his successful roles are released, which include the eternal Lakhan and Munna), be a real-life “nayak”?
Every detail of this movie in a movie can be a spoiler. So I’ll just say that I liked most of this caper, which could be just as easy to call “raat ek baat ki” or “Mumbai raat ki baahon mein” or any other movie that involves a lot of people who take care of the streets of a city that never sleeps, where anything can happen and where everything has a dream quality. Resist reason, isn’t it, because the stars live there and when the stars are on the road, they belong to the public that adores them. Or wait, do we love the characters he plays?
A sequence that gave me goosebumps made Anil break into a crowd and become a chameleon: is he real or is everything moldy? He is desperate, looking for someone, almost at the end of his relationship. But people who recognize him, handing out selfie phones, are excited to be in their one-two-ka-four-Lakhan presence. The crowd screams; among them, we see Anurag, looking in admiration.
One of the inner jokes of the film (you’ll have the most fun if you’re an industry person) is based on a movie that Anurag wanted to make with Anil that was never made and, look here, I’m in a movie together. I have always argued that Anurag should act more: here he makes Anurag, taken out in a swimsuit and a pair of Balenciagas (are they real or fake?), With excellent cheerfulness and a manic momentary glow. However, I have an argument. The film should have been clearer: it slips in parts and you wish Anurag and / or Motwane had screamed “cut” earlier.
Finally, we are left with that eternal question: do actors ever stop acting, even when the cameras stop running? At its center, AK vs. AK, feels like a secret fanboy fantasy. Anil is supported, with another “Filmfare” award (this time for the film that is in the film, so fictional) and ends up walking down a corridor, with dark glasses, every inch of a star. The conflict is false, the cult of the hero is real.