Krrish darshan

THE PREMISE QUOTIENT
Superman originally comes from another planet. Batman is just a regular guy, Bruce Wayne, who decides to dress up and fight crime at night. Peter Parker gets bitten by an arachnid and becomes Spider-Man.

These stories have been played out so many times on our screens that they have become iconic. Krishna/Krrish's tale is a little mundane by comparison: in the best Indian tradition, he's simply inherited his superpowers "" from his dad Rohit, the protagonist of Koi Mil Gaya, who in turn got his powers from a bright blue alien that was inspired by Spielberg's E.T. Now go back and read all that again.

THE DISGUISE QUOTIENT
One of the common questions raised by superhero comics/ films is how no one manages to figure out that the guy in tights and his meek alter-ego are the same person.

Of course, this largely depends on the believability of the costume. The worst disguise, needless to say, is the one Superman adopts as Clark Kent "" essentially a pair of spectacles, a nervous speech pattern and the ability to put on the inner garments before the outer ones.

Batman has always been much cooler, more dark and mysterious (notwithstanding the infamous nipples on the Batsuit worn by George Clooney in the fourth film)

Krrish? He turns his overcoat inside out (this mysteriously converts it into a leather jacket), picks up a torn black mask and uses it to cover the top third of his face. Hrithik's biceps are still on display, however, so none of this should really matter to viewers.

Talking about the believability of the disguise leads us naturally to...

THE HEROINE STUPIDITY QUOTIENT
The leading ladies in superhero movies can be anything from intrepid reporters to upwardly mobile corporate types, all very intelligent and resourceful within the confines of their profession "" but when it comes to cracking the superhero's identity, they don't quite have all the bulbs in the chandelier.

Lois Lane is especially deficient in this regard, given Superman's minimal camouflage (as mentioned in the previous point) and the fact that she is regularly placed in situations where Clark Kent disappears, Superman shows up and then disappears, and then Kent returns again.

It would take something special to outdo cluelessness on this level, but Priyanka Chopra's character in Krrish, the shrill TV reporter Priya, manages it. Such is the coruscating acumen of this girl that when young jungle boy Krishna (who she already knows is endowed with extraordinary powers) disappears and in his absence a leather-clad dude who looks exactly like Krishna (except for the mask covering his forehead) shows up, rescues children from a burning building and proclaims himself to be "Krrish", she furrows her brow and wonders aloud if the two might be the same person.

The suspicion doesn't last long though. When Krishna gets his friend Christian to pretend that he is the superhero, Priyanka slaps her forehead and goes "I'm such an idiot. It didn't even occur to me that Krrish doesn't have to be Krishna, it could just as well be Christian."

Oh well, at least she got the first sentence right. In short, Lois Lane 2, Priyanka 1.

THE COLOURFUL VILLAIN QUOTIENT
For many viewers of Hollywood's superhero films over the years, the biggest attraction is the bad guy, who not only tends to be the most colourful personality in a lineup of stereotypes but is also usually played by a big-name actor: among others, Jack Nicholson (The Joker), Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey (Lex Luther), Terence Stamp (General Zod), Willem Dafoe (the Green Goblin) and Tommy Lee Jones (Two-Face) have figured in this pantheon of heavyweights.

Krrish has stuck to that script, casting one of India's most respected thespians, Naseeruddin Shah, as Krishna's nemesis, the evil scientist Sidhant Arya.

Unfortunately, the role is poorly written; so ineffectual is this super-villain that even when he looks into a future-machine and sees himself in trouble 10 minutes hence, he can't put up a reasonable counterattack.

On the plus side, Shah, recognising the limitations of the script, decided to play his role as a parody, and his performance is one of the more watchable things about this film.

THE EFFECTS QUOTIENT
Surprisingly enough, this is one area where Krrish holds up quite respectably against others of the genre. Not because there's anything in this film to match the spectacular computer-generated effects of Hollywood productions but because it makes a virtue out of minimalism "" by concentrating on Hrithik (an amazingly dedicated physical actor who does most of his own stunts) and channelling the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon variety of graceful ballet-like choreography.

Many of the spectacular shots where Krrish leaps lithely from one tree to the next (yes, there's a bit of Tarzan here as well) or one rock to the next were created not by computers but by using special suspension wires.

But don't come here looking for anything more flamboyant. If you want to see someone rescuing a plummeting airplane from disaster, go watch Superman Returns instead.

THE PRODUCT PLACEMENT QUOTIENT
Here Krrish wins hands down. If you have no memory of Superman flashing his all-American smile out of the screen while encouraging you to have a pack of Kellogg's breakfast cereal every day, well, that's because it never happened.

Krrish, on the other hand, promotes everything from Bournvita to Lays chips to Hero Honda. If our hero had deigned to wear tights, they could have thrown in a lycra promo as well.