This is basically a paranoid movie embracing social relevance to compensate for daring to accessorize a tragedy through the medium of art. Given the current climate, these inclinations aren’t surprising. After all, you know a film is on shaky ground when it’s a natural disaster that must rescue it from being a man-made disaster.

For a film that ebbs and flows, the leads thankfully keep it afloat and steady. Rajput is wonderful as Mansoor, using his eyes and body language to convincingly convey his character’s emotions. But the true revelation is Khan, whose performance makes it hard to believe that this is her first film. She acts like a veteran, is a natural in front of the camera and handles the emotional scenes with ease. She is the most memorable thing about “Kedarnath”.

Khan shines in these later scenes, shedding the earlier self-consciousness to throw it all into the physically challenging finale. Rajput is natural as the compassionate Mansoor, though at times he seems to be searching for the soul of his character, which could have been another casualty of a confused script.

Fortunately for Kapoor, the performances manage to keep things afloat, taking the emotions to a crescendo matching nature’s wrath.

Kedarnath for being “insensitive” to the 2013 Uttarakhand tragedy and turning it into a metaphor, is a proof that we are content remaining blind to the bigger picture; that we are not far from disaster but sitting right on top of it.

Ali Khan is a vibrant presence, lending her character spirit and charisma. She is the most watchable and memorable character in the pre-interval sequences, and gives a snappily told but somewhat cold film much-needed warmth when the mountains melt and everything goes under water.