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Vikramaditya Motwane, the filmmaker who gave us gems like Udaan and Lootera, makes a very quirky unconventional black comic thriller in AK vs AK. The Netflix film has Anil Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap play themselves, while Anil's kin, like his kids Sonam and Harshvardhan, and elder brother, Boney Kapoor also appear in cameos. Shot mostly in mockumentary format, AK vs AK pits Kashyap against Kapoor in a revenge saga that is both intriguing and darkly comical. AK vs AK Movie Review: Anil Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap’s Onscreen Rivalry Is Entertaining in Parts in This Meta Black Comic Thriller.
In the film, we are told that Kashyap is still angry with Kapoor for backing out of his shelved 2003 film Allwyn Kallicharan even in 2020. After their barrage of insults go out of hand during a chat show, Kashyap throws a glass of water on Kapoor's face. The incident puts Kashyap, already infamous for his temperament, in a spot, as the industry sides with Kapoor and boycotts the director.
A vengeful Kashyap, on the advice of his documentary filmmaker girlfriend Yogita, decides to take an unusual revenge on Kapoor. He kidnaps Sonam Kapoor on her father's birthday, and gives the latter 10 hours until sunrise to find her out. Kashyap taunts Kapoor saying that the whole thing will be recorded on camera and it will be a 'realistic cinema with a superstar not made by Shyam Benegal'. Kapoor cannot inform the police or his family about this, and he cannot hurt the director, or Sonam would be hurt.
In the beginning, Kashyap relishes Kapoor's predicament and struggles to get his daughter back, but soon even he is perplexed when the events begins to go beyond the script he wrote for his film. So what happens next? Who is playing the trick on whom? Let's break down the climax of AK vs AK, as we warn you ahead that the below post is full of SPOILERS.
The Climax
Kapoor finally gets hold of the taxi driver who had helped in kidnapping Sonam from the hotel. However, the driver shocks Kashyap when he says he dropped her at a different location than what he was told. The dropped location happens to be Kashyap's flat, much to the director's incredulity, and a video-call confirms that Sonam was kept there.
When Kapoor barges into Kashyap's flat, he doesn't find Sonam there, but finds the chair and the ropes that bind her. Kashyap also finds out that his parents are also missing. He accuses Yogita, who is still rolling the camera, of behind this, and even hits her, but Kapoor refuses the believe him. Another video call confirms that the masked kidnappers still have Sonam as hostage, along with Kashyap's parents.
Kapoor asks Kashyap where Sonam was originally supposed to be held. Kashyap takes him there, where they still find Sonam to be missing, but there are hints that she was kept there. Also a few other camerapersons are present, that even Kashyap is clueless about. After roughing him up, Kapoor gets hold on Kashyap's script and reads out portions of the climax, in which there was supposed to be confrontation between him and Kashyap, after which the director shoots him with a gun in his bag.
Kashyap claims he has not written such a scene, while also denying that he had earlier cut Sonam's finger (claiming it to be prosthetic). He continues to accuse Yogita, but Kapoor finds gun in Kashyap's bag and then shoots him in anger, leaving both shocked.
Kashyap is later rushed to the hospital, the hostages are shown being rescued and Kashyap is punished by law with imprisonment for kidnapping. And here comes the twist!
The Twist
While visiting him in the hospital, Kapoor tells Kashyap that it was he who really was planning and pushing the whole heist, and not the other way round. Kashyap, in fact, was the target of a long con game that Kapoor had designed the moment he had thrown water on the actor.
Kapoor first takes Kashyap's girlfriend into confidence, promising her her first movie. It was on his suggestion that Yogita first seduces Kashyap and then suggest him the 'realistic cinema' idea. From thereon, whatever planning that Kashyap did was relied to Kapoor by Yogita, who then makes his own plans, even getting Sonam and Harshvardhan into confidence.
Knowing that Kashyap's video footage is another chance for him to show the world what a wonderful actor he is still, Kapoor plays along perfectly, showing genuine moments of anguish. He gets himself injured in a car collision (which was later discovered to be driven by Harsh), so that fans can see that he is willing even shed blood for his role. He even gets to do something fans of Hindi cinema love - monologuing, that allows fans to get to know his pain. So while Kashyap thought Kapoor was acting out his script, it was the other way round - Kapoor was making him unknowingly play along the script Kapoor orchestrated, while directed by Yogita.
In the end, Anil Kapoor wins an award for his performance in the film, the trophy being handed over by Sonam. Yogita also wins the Best Director award. The show is watched by Kashyap who is now institutionalised in what appears to a psychiatric facility, as he is still seething for revenge (thus teasing a sequel).
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 24, 2020 04:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
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