Underplayed Gems

Kalank (2019)

Kalank poster
Original title
कलंक
Directed by
Abhishek Varman
Genre
drama film
Country
India
Runtime
2h 46m
Rated
M
Rating
5.8 of 10 from 61 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

Set in pre-independence British India, a woman enters a troubled marriage and gets involved with a passionate but conflicted man. Their affair stirs up old wounds and social tensions in a small town.

periodromanticdramaticintensemelancholicvisually lushslow-burnemotional

What happens

Kalank (pronounced [kəˈləŋk]; lit. Blemish or Stigma) is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language period romantic drama film. It was directed by Abhishek Varman and produced by Karan Johar, Hiroo Yash Johar, and Apoorva Mehta under Dharma Productions, and Sajid Nadiadwala under Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, in association with Fox Star Studios as presenter and distributor. The film is set in the pre-independence British era. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sonakshi Sinha, Madhuri Dixit, and Sanjay Dutt. Kalank marked the first film distributed by Fox Star Studios following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney. It was released on 17 April 2019 on 5,300 screens worldwide, making it the widest Bollywood release of 2019. The film grossed around ₹146.31 crore, emerging as a box-office bomb, though it recovered its budget. It received mixed reviews upon release, with praise for its soundtrack, cinematography, production design, costumes and performances of the ensemble cast, but criticism towards its direction, story, screenplay and length. At the 65th Filmfare Awards, Kalank received 7 nominations, including Best Supporting Actress (Dixit) and Best Music Director (Pritam), and won 2 awards – Best Male Playback Singer (Arijit Singh for "Kalank") and Best Choreography (Remo D'Souza for "Ghar More Pardesiya"). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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