AK vs AK cast: Anil Kapoor, Anurag Kashyap
AK vs. AK director: Vikramaditya Motwane
AK vs AK score: Two and a half stars
A ‘flop’ director. A long-standing successful star. And a story that is real and unreal, borrowed from the real-life people of the two main protagonists: Anurag Kashyap and Anil Kapoor, the first creator of dark, cheeky, cheeky and crazy matter; the latter, incredibly fit, still operating and still in demand.
An early twist, which involves a kidnapping and coercion filmed on camera, needs you to suspend disbelief: the Kashyap we know could be really behind the act; Kapoor, always known for his civility, can he really be a boor? Or are they the two hyper-hypo-real versions of themselves?
Motwane’s film is not just a goal. It’s meta-meta, especially when some parts are placed too close to the brand and some just get excited. Overnight you can’t become a star unless your last name is Kapoor, Anurag smiles and makes Anil grimace. This line, about the astonishing longevity of the Kapoors and Khans, is well known. But we also know that Anil had to work hard to achieve his success. And would AK Jr ever say that to AK Sr. in the face?
Another important twist, which comes much later in the film, forces us to look back and question our perceptions. Can Anil, whom we have known as a hero on screen (a whole list of his highly successful roles is released, which includes the perennial Lakhan and Munna), be a real-life “nayak”?
Any detail of this film can be a spoiler. So, I can only say that I almost liked this caper, which could so easily have been called “raat ek baat ki”, or “Mumbai raat ki baahon mein” or any other film that involves a lot of people. who work the streets of a city that never sleeps, where anything can happen and where everything has a dreamlike quality. To reason, no, because that’s where the stars live, and when the stars hit the roads, they belong to the public that loves them. Or wait, do we love the characters they play?
A sequence that gave me goosebumps has caused Anil to sink into a crowd and become a chameleon: is it real or is it all a roll? He is desperate, looking for someone, almost at the end of his bond. But people who recognize him, who offer phones to take selfies, are thrilled to be in the presence of his one-two-ka-four-Lakhan. The crowd roars; among them, we glimpse Anurag, looking with admiration.
One of the film’s internal jokes (which you’ll have more fun with if you’re an industry member) is based on a movie Anurag wanted to make with Anil that was never made, and which you see here, are in a movie together. I’ve always maintained that Anurag should act more: here’s doing Anurag, tossed in a tracksuit and a pair of Balenciagas (are they real or fake?), With great joy and a momentary manic brilliance. I have a fight, though. The film should have been sharper: it slides in parts and you wish Anurag and / or Motwane had called “cut” before.
Finally, we are left with this eternal question: do actors stop acting, even when the cameras stop shooting? In the background, AK vs AK, it feels like a secret fanboy fantasy. Anil is propped up, with another “Filmfare” award (this time for the film that appears in the film, therefore fictional), and gets to walk down a hallway, with dark eyes in place, each centimeter per star. The conflict is false, the worship of the heroes is real.