Sara falls in love with Muslim 'pithu' as weather God plays villain in 'Kedarnath'

Firstly, the concept is unnecessarily provocative. Mixing religion and romance may be a heady formula for cinema.

Okay, so here is the explosive story of Abhishek Kapoor's controversial "Kedarnath". Hindu pilgrim to Kedarnath, played by Sara Ali Khan, falls in love with Muslim 'pithu (the hired recruits who carry pilgrims on their backs to the shrine at the top of the mountain) as the weather God plays the villain.

Firstly, the concept is unnecessarily provocative. Mixing religion and romance may be a heady formula for cinema. But it often ends up creating unnecessary controversy. And the way the politics of the country is going, this is plainly playing with fire. But the "Kedarnath" teaser, released on Tuesday, prefers playing with water. Tons of it flows on-screen in the tackiest on-screen portrayal of a landslide and cyclone I've ever seen.

The least one expects in a film celebrating the fury of nature is impressive VFX. The teaser doesn't even provide the comfort of watching an impressive disaster film. As for the eagerly awaited debut of Saif Ali Khan's daughter Sara Ali Khan, the girl had the spark when I saw her at age 12 doing an elegant 'Adaab' to filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali at an awards function.

Does her launch film do justice to Sara? The final verdict shall be reserved until the film comes out. The teaser looks exploitative and tacky.

(With inputs from agencies.)