Movie: Kai Po Che
Language: Hindi
Starring: Raj Kumar Yadav, Amit Sadh, Sushant Singh Rajput, Amrita Puri
Directed by: Abhishek Kapoor

First things first - Abhishek Kapoor, take a bow. There must have been challenges aplenty in adapting Chetan Bhagat's 'The Three Mistakes of My Life' for the silver screen, but 'Kai Po Che' rises above the book's predictable plot, English-For-Idiots dialogue and self-indulgent, sappy climax. Were there things Kapoor could have done better? Sure, but it's hard to not give Kapoor due credit for turning dodgy source material into a buddy flick that's enjoyable and heartwarming.

What's it about?
Govind (Raj Kumar Yadav), Ishaan (Sushant Singh Rajput) and Omi (Amit Sadh) are childhood buddies, living in Ahmedabad, who decide to come together to open a sports store that's also a cricket coaching academy and a maths tuition centre. Their friendship is sorely tested by Omi's uncle's political ambitions, Govind's relationship with Ishaan's sister Divya (Amrita Puri) and Ishaan's support of a gifted cricket pupil who happens to be Muslim, among other things.

Raj Kumar Yadav puts in a good performance but it is Sushant Singh Rajput who makes a confident debut and is the joie de vivre of the trio. Amit Sadh is the weakest link here, looking more grinning idiot than simpleton, but he partly redeems himself in the second half. Amrita Puri, as the pushy girlfriend, is cute.

The real heroes of this movie are the writing and cinematography. Like '3 Idiots', the film's climax is different from that of the book's, but at least there's no vacuum cleaner-like plot device in sight (heaven be praised). Anay Goswami's (the film's director of photography) frames make all those Gujarat Tourism ads starring Amitabh Bachchan pale in comparison.

What to do?
Go right ahead and book your tickets. Watching 'Kai Po Che' will certainly not be your week's or month's biggest mistake.

in.com rating: 3.5/5

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