Kaalidhar Laapata - Found in the Lost

Kaalidhar Laapata

Hindi - Drama
109 min
Zee5

Kaalidhar Laapata (KL) is a remake of the Tamil movie KD (which I missed watching at the time), with Abhishek A. Bachchan (Jr. B) playing the titular character. He is a scruffy, middle-aged elder statesman of the family. His brothers hang on to him because they need his signature to claim the family property. 

Kaalidhar, however, is experiencing memory loss and undergoing anxiety treatment, which makes him a burden in their eyes. After forging his thumbprint, they take him to Banaras and abandon him, filing a “missing person’s report” to cover their tracks.

Kaalidhar soon realizes that he has been deserted and eventually escapes, not wanting to be found. Meanwhile, a fire back home damages the forged papers and the brothers are forced to engage local authorities to help find him. In the meantime, Kaalidhar makes his way to another town, where he meets a young orphan, Ballu.

Ballu is enterprising, full of life and brimming with charm. In the time Kaalidhar spends with Ballu, he rediscovers a zest for living. Reminiscing about how he spent his whole life living for his brothers, Kaalidhar now yearns to experience life anew, in Ballu’s effervescent company.

Jr. B has now been in films for 25 years. I recall his rather awkward debut in Refugee (where Kareena Kapoor completely stole the show). Over the years, he has had a chequered career, a string of poor early choices, it did not help that Hrithik was a contemporary and of course the everlooking shadow of being the son of one of Indian cinema’s greatest ever stars. The last one in particular can never have been easy to live up to.

While I have always rooted for him sentimentally, i am truly a fan of Jr. B 2.0. Over the last eight years or so, he has clearly accepted that he is, in fact, an actor—and a very good one, when given the space and probably no longer looking for "box office success", but quitely building an impressive performance oriented filmography (Housefull series probably pays the bills!). 

He has taken on some genuinely interesting parts: Breathe (Season 2), Dasvi, I Want to Talk, Ghoomer, Bob Biswas, and now KL. He looks the part here—scruffy, gaunt, and unglamorous. He is sombre and carefully restrained in his emotional scenes. The moment where he finally enjoys a plate of biryani is an understated joy to watch. His chemistry with the child actor Daivik Baghela (Ballu) is the soul of the film.

Daivik is charming, mischievous and absolutely lights up the screen. It never fails to amaze me—the quality of child actors we are seeing in Cinema these days. They appear so confident and natural, never like they are reciting memorized lines and acting. Daivik is flawless and his character steers the plot forward. I truly hope we see more of him in the future.

The film is directed by Madhumita, the writer-director of the original Tamil version. She does a very good job of adjusting the milieu while keeping the emotional soul of the story intact. The songs and background score by Amit Trivedi add to the film’s mellow tone.

KL is a soulful buddy drama with a simple plot, short runtime, lovely music and excellent performances. The chemistry between Kaalidhar and Ballu—makes this well worth your time.